Grim Reaper of Iwa
by Uzumaki Crossover
Summary: Finding the truth about his parents from the Kyuubi on the Wave Mission brought about a whole new set of events for the ninja world. Naruto's path in life has changed. With new teammates and teachers, he will bring about a change to the lands. The Grim Reaper has returned and like so long ago, he is an Uzumaki. Rated M for lemons, maybe. Naru/Kuro small harem . Haku/Guren.
1. Discovery

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 1**

**This is a story that I have wanted to do for a long time, but other stories were in the way. Depending on the reaction, I will see how my focus goes. Lately I have been slacking because I was not in the writing mood and other shit that I had to deal with. Hopefully that will change.**

"You don't know ANYTHING about pain!" Inari cried. He had been watching these _ninja_ that were protecting his family, mostly his grandfather. They were just a bunch of teens and some weird old guy. They could _never_ understand his pain.

"INARI!" yelled at her son. She knew he was hurting ever since his father was killed and he had lost hope, but to yell at their protectors was just rude and she would not stand for it.

"We don't know about pain huh?" Naruto said quietly, but everyone heard him. There was something in his voice that normally wasn't there and it intrigued Sasuke, freaked Sakura out a bit, and scared Kakashi for reasons revolving around the Kyuubi.

"YEAH!" Inari cried defiantly. But he soon felt cold and wondered why.

The room's temperature _had_ gone down because Naruto was very pissed and he just could not take this brat's words anymore. This change in character scared both his teammates and worried his sensei. However, his face is what scared them the most. It was devoid of emotion, but he was unconsciously spreading a chilling killer intent that was putting them all on edge. Inari felt it full force and was almost pissing his pants and he felt that if Naruto smiled at all using that, well…he would be pissing his pants and fainting.

"Let me tell you something Inari." Naruto stated with clear distain in his voice. "Somewhere in this world, people will always have it worse than you. So you lost your dad to some idiot tyrant who is controlling your village, but you know, you still have your loving family and people that care enough to protect you and try and make your life better."

Naruto held up a hand and put up three digits. "Three, that's the number of people in this room who have it worse than you," The room seemed to get colder at this point and it was scaring and confusing Kakashi. This was not the feeling of the Kyuubi…it felt more like…death. "First is my teacher, the Cyclopes over there. Judging from the way he acts and he is always late and from some of the rumors I have heard, he has lost a lot of friends and family in this career." At this Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened at that and they whipped their heads over to their teacher who did look sad.

"From the rumors, he had lost his father around your age, then his teammates, which one of them must have been an Uchiha if that eye is anything to go by and lastly, a man who he thought as a father figure, his old sensei and the Fourth Hokage." Naruto said seriously, shocking his teammates, none more than Sasuke as he looked at his teacher with more respect.

"Next we have Sasuke." Naruto said before he got right in Inari's face. "Sasuke is the last of his clan. You want to know why? His elder killed off his entire clan...in one night!" Surprisingly there was a lot of venom in his voice.

"Now we have me." Naruto said, surprising Sakura a bit. She didn't know what to think of this side of Naruto. He was always so happy go lucky that she thought nothing got to him, even her punching him. Guess she was wrong.

Naruto backed up from Inari, but he had that same blank but scary as hell look on his face. "I was an orphan since birth and you know what? EVERYONE in my village hates me since then. I was kicked out of the orphanage at 4 and lived on the street for a year until the Hokage, the first person to accept me, gave me my own apartment."

_Why would everyone hate him at birth? I thought it was just those annoying pranks._ Sakura thought.

"At first I thought it was all just because I was born the night the Kyuubi demon attacked and the people of my village needed something to vent on and I was it. No, I recently figured out it is much worse." Naruto replied. All those years of repressed emotions was finally coming out. It was just sad that it was coming out on this boy, his family, and his _team_. He just could not stand it anymore! "I am one of nine people with the same problem. I am not seen as human, I am seen as lower than that, something that people see as nothing but trash in fear of our power and it is not like we asked for it in the first place. It was force on us to create a weapon for our villages"

Kakashi's eye was a dinner plate at this point. Naruto was literally telling a small boy….and everyone else what he truly was. However, he knew that the Hokage didn't actually see Naruto in that way. That was why he tried giving him a normal life…something that the villagers messed up. He messed up as well it seems. He also could not stop Naruto, this was his choice after all. He just lowered his head in shame. What would his sensei think? _I so sorry, Naruto…_

Sasuke didn't know what to think. All these things Naruto was speaking off didn't go along with what he sees of Naruto. The blond idiot was like that because the villagers treated him like shit? Now that he thought of it, the academy teachers always had it out for Naruto….except for Iruka who seemed to be trying to repair the damage. _Why?_

Sakura lowered her head in shame, she followed her mother's word to the letter. And for what? Making someone feel this miserable because of a power that she was afraid of? That was ridiculous!

"I am a Jinchiriki, the power of human sacrifice! Nothing but trash to normal humans who see us as nothing more than a weapon, just like that one eyed old man told me once when I was little, but I was too young to understand and didn't think much of it."

_DANZO got to him!? Oh man. This is bad._ Kakashi thought nervously.

"But after Mizuki's stunt, I get what I am now. I am the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Fourth Hokage could not kill it, so he sealed it in me. I am just a freak no one wants to be around." Naruto growled out before he walked towards the door. He knew his teammates heard that and after this mission they would not want him on their team even more. He was giving them the time they needed.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked.

"Out to train and let off some steam. Destroy a tree or something." Naruto growled out before he slammed the door.

"Poor kid." Tazuna said, finally speaking up.

"No one should treat children like that." Tsunami replied sadly.

"No one should and I was not there for him when it meant something." Kakashi said deadly as his head hit the wall behind him, a tear going down one eye. "I owe his father after all."

Inari looked shell shocked and Naruto's words gave him something to think about. He did not hate Naruto. He was just a goofy older kid in his eyes. Just because he held something as powerful as the Kyuubi didn't mean that people had to hate him. Life was cruel. He learned that the hard way.

Sasuke sat in his usual brooding position, but his mind was racing. What he went through was something like Naruto, they both knew great pain. How could he have no seen it? On the other hand, the Kyuubi was a different matter at all. He'd bet if an Uchiha had it in them, they wouldn't be treated as badly. To him, Naruto was a good person for enduring all these years and a powerful ally. He just needed to be trained better to be on par with him after all. Nodding to himself, he decided he would be a better friend to the blond. He then blinked. "You knew his father, who was that?"

Kakashi eyed the boy and saw what was going through boy and inwardly smiled at the boy, It seemed that he had already accepted Naruto…in his own way. He then held the bridge of his nose and said, "Ugh…the Hokage might kill me if I tell you since Naruto is not supposed to know because of the man's enemies." All he got was a glared from the boy. Of course, why would Sasuke care about that? "Fine, just don't let him know you know or the Hokage for that matter. His father is Minato Namikaze…the Fourth Hokage…and my teacher."

Tazuna's family widened their eyes at that. Hell even they knew who that man was and Tazuna slapped his forehead. "Yeah, you people fucked up big time."

Sasuke's eyes were twitching by this point. So Naruto was a Jinchuriki and the Hokage's heir. Fuck, Tazuna was right.

Suddenly there was a thud and they all saw that Sakuras' head was against the wall and she was crying. _Mother…you are such an idiot…and so am I for believing you._ "So he is the real hero. The Fourth Hokage…made his own son into the true hero of Konoha." She said aloud, making Kakashi blink. He thought she would be against Naruto because of her mother.

"You two don't hate Naruto either?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"No. My father often talked about him and he had full belief in the man and his seals." Sasuke said, bit nostalgic. "I see Naruto as a powerful ally…if he was trained properly, and a worthy adversary."

"The Fourth Hokage was trained by Jiraiya of the Sennin after all. A seal master." Sakura replied. "I read enough about them that if that man used them, he did well with Naruto because he is not unstable like the other Jinchuriki I read about…mostly the jinchuriki of Suna. He is just sad." Sakura looked really sad. "I need to apologize to him later." Then a smile came to her face. "Hinata is going to love this."

"I see." Kakashi replied. "Then I guess things go as normal then." Kakashi replied happily that his students accepted Naruto.

XXX

"AARGH!" Naruto yelled as he destroyed his current training ground with his clones. He had been doing that for hours with loads of clones. Suddenly, he fell on his face and passed out. He had tired himself out. However, something wanted to speak with him.

X_-Mindscape-_X

Naruto awoke in what looked to be a sewer. He was also in a very large room. Looked around closer, he guessed this was the Kyuubi's cage judging by all the bars at the end and the tag for 'seal' on one of them.

"So…This must be Kyuubi's seal huh?"

"**You would be correct…brat."** The fox's booming voice said as he lazily opened one eye to look at the blond from his lying position.

"You don't seem that threatening to me." Naruto commented.

"**Feh…what would you know about threatening. Besides, there is a reason I called you down here."**

"And that is?" Naruto asked, slightly put off.

"**Since you told those other humans about me, life is going to be harder for you in Konoha. I will give you a reason to **_**not**_** go back there."** At Naruto's questioning look, the old fox continued. **"I know who your parents were."**

"Really? How?" Naruto asked while narrowing his eyes, looking for trickery.

The Kyuubi lazily looked at the blond and said, **"How could I not? I was in your mother as well. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki."**

Naruto's eyes widened at that. His mother was a Jinchuriki and she managed to have him? Maybe there was hope for him. And it was nice to finally hear the name of his mother. "So…I am your second Jinchuriki?"

"**Try third brat. The First Hokage's wife was the first after he beat Madara, who was controlling me. Now, as for your father, you already know who he is, after all he sealed me into you."**

Naruto fell to his knees at that. "Somehow….I always knew. But this makes the pain worse. Not just for me, but for the villagers as well." He said, making the Kyuubi eye the boy. It would seem the blond was going through a change. "I am the reminder of lost loved ones and I look just like him, making it worse for them. How can they ever accept that?"

"**Now do you see why you need to leave that place?" **

"But…where would I go?" Naruto asked.

The Kyuubi seems to ponder this for a while. **"Since you know nothing of your heritage as an Uzumaki, I think it could be safe to recreate a powerful Uzuamki I used to run with before he was killed by Madara. The Grim Reaper as he was called."** The giant fox then told Naruto all of his old adventures with the Grim Reaper, their fight with Madara Uchiha, the fight with the Hokage, and finally that night when Naruto was born.

"Right, I'll go along with this, but this better not be a trick." Naruto replied. After hearing the fox's story, he felt that the Kyuubi was painted in the wrong light. He just hoped that his new found trust in the Kyuubi didn't back fire. After all fox's were tricksters and he had to be on guard. "Where do we go to find these weapons that the Grim Reaper used?"

"**Luckily for you brat, there is a nearby Seaside Cave. It is hidden by a genjutsu that is about to run out of chakra soon. Don't really remember when, but all that you need is in there." **

The blond nodded and left the mindscape. The Kyuubi looked at the spot Naruto had been in before he fell back asleep, waiting for the events to come.

XXX

When Naruto awoke, he noticed it was very early morning and that someone was inches away from waking him themselves. Looking closer, he noticed it was a 'girl' that looked shocked. She had beautiful raven hair and a pink kimono. "Yo." Was all he said.

The girl quickly composed herself and said, "What are you doing out here. You'll catch a cold sleeping out here."

"Oh don't worry about that. I am a ninja, I can handle a little cold." Naruto said proudly. His mood had improved since last night, so there was no reason not to be civil to the girl.

"Ah, so I was right in assuming that, since you had a ninja headband. I am Haku by the way."

"I am Naruto Uzumaki." The blond replied.

Haku smiled. "Nice to meet you Naruto. Tell me, do you have something to fight for?"

Naruto's smiled dropped as he thought about that. The only person he thought of was Kyuubi, but he could fend for himself….in his mindscape. "I am not sure anymore. I thought I did, but recently….I am just not sure."

"I see." Haku replied and he saw it. Their team didn't really act like one from what he saw. "Well, let me tell you something. When you are fighting for something important to you, that's when you become truly strong."

"I guess that is something to think about." Naruto replied.

Haku nodded as he stood up and started to leave, but he turned back and said, "Oh and just so you know, I am a boy."

Naruto froze in place at that. He could hear Kyuubi laughing in his head. _The hell, he is prettier that Sakura!_ He then composed himself and said aloud as he made his own exit. "That's fine Haku, but I have found a way for both sides to come out of this mission unscathed. I'd get Zabuza out of this place soon if I where you. Don't worry though, you'll get your money"

Haku stood stock still before he whirled around but Naruto was already gone. Oh he had to tell Zabuza about this!

XXX

Naruto, following Kyuubi's directions, found the cave with ease because the genjutsu seemed to have run out of chakra to hold it up. Inside, it was dark and cold. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but it felt….unnatural. Like the darkness was alive and the cold felt like it want to pull you further into the darkness that awaited you.

It was…unnerving, to say the least.

Naruto, despite all this, just walked in like it was nothing…that or he didn't care. However, he was surprised that this cave was so small because he found the back pretty quick. In the back, there a small chamber with two pedestals. On them were weapons. One was a fairly large Scythe. It had a plain black handle and the blade was polished chakra metal. The darkness seemed to be pulled in by this strange weapon.

The other weapon was just as strange. It was a chained weapon with hook like claws on the ends that glowed a dull purple. Kyuubi chose that moment to speak through their link. **"That Scythe is called the Death Scythe, the main weapon of the Shinigami. That strange chain is called the Claws of Hades, named after ancient Death God. Take them both to revive the legend in you."**

Naruto nodded as he placed a hand on each of the weapons and was instantly assaulted by images of the past. A man with spiky red hair and a giant fox by his side as they fought large scale battles. He was part of a large clan with other red haired people and he even had a wife, a beautiful blond woman.

Soon it was over and he felt the power coming off the weapons. He attached the chain hooks to his belt before, suddenly, the staff of the Scythe shortened and he attached that to his waist as well, since it was shorter. Nodding to himself, he walked out of the cave to his next destination, Gato's mansion.

A few hours later, Naruto found a fairly large building that was obviously Gato's since it was not run down like all the other buildings in Wave. Oh yeah, that man had plenty of money to spare…because he was not going to be able to use it by the end of the day.

XXX

The remnants of team 7 rushed over to the smoke filled area. A large mansion was on fire…or what was left of it after that huge explosion they saw and heard all throughout Wave. Kakashi was inwardly cheering; thinking whoever did this saved them a lot of trouble. That is until he saw something that made his blood cold.

Near the edge of the fire, was a shredded orange jacket with blood on it. He picked it up and knuckles whitened. _ When you said you wanted to destroy something, I didn't think it would be this. Did you get in over your head, Naruto?_

Sasuke saw it and growled to himself. But stopped when they heard Sakura gasp, they ran over to her to see what she saw. Pinned to a tree by a kunai, was Naruto's headband and it was heavily crack like a spider web.

The big question was…where was Naruto and was he even ok?

XXX

**AU: I would like to say thank you to Santateresagamuza as he helped make this happen. He not only beta read my story and checked grammar, punctuation, and spelling but he added transition words to make things flow better, added sentences to make things make sense, and helped the flow of the story between conversations and events. Thank you Santateresagamuza you are and have been a great help to me. Santateresagamuza you are awesome and an awesome Beta reader.**

**UC: Yeah, I didn't write the above statement, lol. Anyway, I hoped you all liked it and apparently I REALLY did not a beta for this. I was tired and forgetting words. Go figure. It will be a while before Naruto gets to Iwa, just so you all know.**

**Review.**


	2. Team Building

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 2**

"You fool! I should just kill you now!" Zabuza shouted at the blond known at Naruto Uzumaki. They had just escaped to the outskirts of Wave. Naruto had raided Gato's mansion and took all the valuables. He gave half of it to wave and gave the rest to the now enraged nukenin and his apprentice, Haku.

"I did it and there is nothing you can do to reverse what has been done." Naruto said with a glare before he took out a folder. "Besides, he was going to have you and Haku killed once you got the job done."

Zabuza stared at the blond former Konoha ninja, then he took the folder and flipped through it. What he saw pissed him off. "That bastard was going to sell my body to Kiri! UGH!" he grabbed his sword and sliced right through a tree in anger. He then stared at Naruto for moment.

Haku had told him of the blond's exploits with in Gato's mansion. He could honestly say he was a bit impressed, but he was already intrigued with the boy with his unusual maneuvers to get his old teacher out of the water prison. If he was to guess, he would say that the blond was not a normal genius by any means, but a battle genius! He could use that. Also, he silently thanked those mercs for shredding that god awful orange jacket. He needed to get this kid new clothes befitting a ninja. Not that orange crap. That line of thought made him pause. It was like he was already this kid's new teacher.

"I see your point brat, but what now? Are you going to go back to those Leaf nin?" Zabuza asked while Haku continued to stay quiet. Ugh…he hated that. Most of the time, Haku acted like a emotionless drone. It was fine of the battlefield but not in normal life. Was his training that bad? Ugh, he hoped the blond brat didn't go back to Konoha, Haku needed a friend.

Naruto scowled. "No, I bring nothing but pain to them." At Zabuza's questioning look, he continued. "I am Naruto Uzumaki. The son of the Fourth Hokage and third Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

Haku actually let loose some emotion at that. It was not fear or hatred. It was shock and hopefulness. Someone had been through pain like him…somewhat. He was sure Naruto had it worse but he just hoped they could bond over it.

Zabuza looked both shocked and skeptical about that. He was shocked that The Yellow Flash's brat was in front of him. The kid looked just like him, but the whisker makes were what made him look a bit different. Also…since when did Konoha have a Jinchuriki? Konoha for the most part never seemed like that had a Jinchuriki to start with! "I was not even aware of the first two."

"Not many would since the first one was the First Hokage' wife." Zabuza's eye twitched at that. "The second one was my mother, Kushina Uzumaki."

Zabuza had a mini heart attack at that. In front of him was not just the son of the Yellow Flash, but the Hot Blooded Habanero! _Holy SHIT! That same chick who saved my ass when I was a kid? Dear god, this kid is a true ninja prodigy. I have got to get him on my side!_ "I see." The man said, trying to look calm. "What do you plan on doing now?"

"I…hadn't thought that far ahead yet." Naruto replied exasperatedly as he hung his head.

Zabuza actually chuckled at that. This kid was interesting. Not all that bright, but seemed to make anyone see the good in him. Konoha obliviously screwed up. He hit a freaking gold mine. It was said that Kushina could change the hearts of her enemies…sometimes. Man, this kid had it too if he was considering training the boy.

"Aright then kid. How about this, while I fully recover, I will teach you alongside Haku. I will make you into a competent Shinobi. Not an idiot who relies on luck alone. What do you say?"

"I'll do it." Naruto replied. The stories about this guy are a bit out there, but he was determined to get stronger…even if he had to take the Demon of the Mist as a Master.

Haku actually smiled at that. "Well, glad to see I am not alone in the training anymore."

"Yeah, so do I call you sempai now?" Naruto asked with a goofy grin.

Haku's smile grew. "I would not mind that. I am older than you after all."

Zabuza just let a small smirk grace his masked face as he watched the two interact.

XXX

A week later, the small group of nukenin were in a clearing. Zabuza felt that they were safe enough to begin training. Zabuza stared at Naruto intently. He had shown good skills when they fought off some idiot bandits, so he was sure Naruto had more tricks up his sleeves. One such trick was the two strange weapons the boy had at his sides. "Kid, I have got to ask, what is with those weapons?"

"Oh, I got these before leaving Wave. Apparently, they belonged to a ninja the Kyuubi used to run with before he was sealed with in Mito Uzumaki. The fox called him the Grim Reaper." Naruto said with a shrug.

Zabuza took a step back in shock. "Are you kidding me? You're a main line Uzumaki?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Haku decided to help him on this. "Naruto-kun, he means that only the main family of the Uzumaki Clan can use those weapons. For the Grim Reaper was married into the main line and I think Mito was a daughter of his….or a granddaughter…I am not sure."

Before Naruto could really answer, the Kyuubi's voice spoke into his mind. **"Yeah, I forgot to mention that. You had to be a descendent of the guy to be even allowed in the cave, but if you forced your way in…that atmosphere you felt would have killed you and I would not have been able to save you."**

_Oh _now _you tell me…ass._ Naruto grumbled as he held head in annoyance. "Apparently I _am_ the guy's descendent…otherwise I would have died."

"I see. So you just talked to the Kyuubi there as well. I wonder if I could teach you how to use its power….probably not." Zabuza mused. That would be a hard and dangerous task. Way too dangerous for him anyway. "Eh, we'll see what we can do. Now, tell about the weapons."

"Well, Kyuubi called this one the Claws of Hades. The hooks look like they have a strange yet dark power. The other is a Scythe called the Death Scythe. It feels like it has a dark power as well." Naruto commented.

"So…the legends were true." Zabuza said to himself. He really wanted the weapons for himself, but he was no fool. Only an Uzumaki could actually use those. "Right then, I will teach you how to use those weapons as well, but before that, here." He gave the blond a blank square piece of paper.

"What's this for?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It will tell us what type of chakra you have." Haku replied. "For example, I am an Ice user. So I have a high affinity for Wind and Water."

"Alright then." Naruto said with a shrug as he channeled chakra into it, the results surprising everyone. The paper gained multiple lines on it before splitting off. Then those pieces changed themselves. A third of the pieces became soggy, some of them burned up, and the rest had a strange reaction. They became dark and wispy.

"Interesting." Zabuza commented eyeing all the pieces, but mostly the strange ones. "It would seem you have a strong affinity to Wind while having smaller affinities for Water, Fire, and if I am correct, Darkness, caused by your interaction with the Death Weapons." Zabuza held the bridge of his nose. "This is going to be a lot of training…wait a second. Naruto, how many of those Shadow Clones can you make?"

"Uuuh. I don't know." Naruto replied with a shrug. "The most I ever made was about 500 when I had to beat Mizuki-teme for making me steal the forbidden scroll and almost killing Iruka-sensei. But hell, I wasn't even tired. The old man told me it took a lot of chakra, but I don't feel the affects."

_Fucking gold mine! Screw you Konoha! _Zabuza thought happily. Damn this kid was going to go far and maybe if they gained a lot more people and money, they could rejoin the Mist Rebels. He hoped Mei was ok…hell she could melt his balls off, so yeah, she was fine. "Fantastic. Let me tell you a secret about that jutsu. You can train with it because anything it learns, excluding physical aspects, you learn."

"ARGH! That would have so useful in the academy!" Naruto groaned, making Haku laugh and Zabuza to chuckle darkly.

"Alright kid, for the next month, we will be on the road a lot and so, we will be training a lot as well. Get ready for hell." Zabuza said with a glint in his eye and dark chuckle that made Naruto shiver.

XXX ( Not going into the training. Boring for me to read and even more to type)

"Careful. I heard Orochimaru of the Sannin has been in the area." Zabuza said seriously. They were currently in a land that bordered Rice, Fire, and Water.

"The hell is he doing here?" Naruto asked with annoyance. He had changed his attire in that month. With the money he had taken from Gato, Zabuza decided that Naruto needed new clothes as he was going to train an orange wearing fool.

The blond's attire now consisted of black steel toed combat boots, a pair of the black pants that had multiple pockets, and a black wife beater. He didn't feel like he needed a jacket or anything like that…yet. And with no head band, his hair was slightly covering his eyes. Speaking of hair, it was less unruly when longer as it clumped together in larger spikes. At times, it would seem that a spike was covering an eye.

"If you listened on in the conversations people have when we pass through villages and towns, you would know why, Naruto-kun." Haku kindly stated. However, Naruto knew enough about the boy now that he knew that Haku was insulting him. Haku seemed like a kind person and he kept that persona even when he would be degrading someone. It was nerve wrecking sometimes. "Word is, the man is recruiting people for Otogakure, an up and coming village that he is leading himself."

"Great…" Naruto replied as he eyed his best friend. Haku still wore the same battle attire and kept the Kiri Hunter mask, but he just wished that he would dress normal when they were in town. I mean, he had to pretend the boy was his older sister while in town!

"Correct Haku." Zabuza replied. "Just be careful just in case. I'd rather not fight the man if I can help it." The group was nearing a small village and unfortunately, since they were near Water Country, people seemed skittish around bloodline users. However, they came there for a reason. Zabuza had heard about a girl there that had a bloodline…and it was very unique to say the least. It sounded like something that belonged in Earth Country.

"Right." Naruto said. He didn't think he was ready to someone like a Sennin just yet. Sure he would fight to protect his new family as he saw them, but he would probably die. As they walked through the town, he thought about his training. Suffice to say, Zabuza was a fucking slaving driver.

While the man had his clones working on various Jutsu, Chakra Control excerises, and Elemental Manipulation, he had the original in Taijutsu training. The man noticed that Naruto had to decent Taijutsu Style, so he taught the boy a little of everything since he was a sword expert. And when not training his body, he was training with his weapons. How Zabuza even knew how to use a chained weapon was beyond him. When asked, he pawned it off to some guy in Iron Country...who ever that was. The scythe was just trial and error since it not a usual Shinobi weapon.

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he almost missed a commotion at the end of the street. Almost. They looked past the mob to see a girl on her knees with a rather large bump on her head. Someone must have hit her in the head. Naruto growled at that and by the look on Haku's currently unmasked face; he didn't like it as well.

_Found her already…that was quick._ Zabuza thought. "You two handle this, I am going to go and get a drink."

"Yeah whatever sensei. They should call you the Lazy Demon instead." Naruto growled. Haku was somewhat amused at their banter. He was used to it by now. Zabuza while a hard ass ninja, cared for the both of them like his own sons…he just didn't like showing it though.

"Just go and help the girl, brat!" Zabuza said as he walked away, waving them off.

"It looks like it could get worse Naruto-kun. We must hurry." Haku said as he looked back at the girl in worry. "Worry about Zabuza-sama later!"

"Right!" Naruto confirmed as he and Haku disappeared over to the girl a moment later via Body Flicker. "Leave her alone!"

"I won't like it, but we will kill you if you continue this foolishness." Haku replied in kind.

"Why are you defending this little witch?" a female village spat with vemon.

"I see no witch." Haku replied, making the girl eye him in shock.

"Yeah…all we see is a group of dumbasses picking on a girl." Naruto said.

"She has a bloodline! We are following Mist's example and killing her!"

"Fools." Naruto said while his hair over his eyes. He eyed Haku and nodded to the boy. Haku knew what that meant. They would have to apply a scare tactic they had recently developed with Naruto's death powers and Haku's ice. Naruto silently extended his scythe and showed these people _that_ face.

As that was going on Haku was making the air temperature drop and ice was forming around them…mostly Naruto. The girl behind them was not affected, but she was shocked that random strangers were helping her of all people. Maybe there were good people in the world after all.

The crowd was silently freaking out at that two boys in front of them but Naruto had captured all their attention when he scythe started generating wisps of darkness that converged on to Naruto, seemingly making his skin fade away to show nothing but bleach white bones.

"You fools. You must have seen ninja before. They showed powers similar to the Bloodline users. No, you are just afraid, but you turn that hatred into a never ending cycle." Naruto said in a hollow voice. "Leave now or I will kill you."

"It's the Shinigami!" the random villager screamed before the crowd quickly dispersed in a panic.

The darkness left Naruto's form, making him revert back to normal. The feeling of dread in the air was now gone and the girl stared at him and Haku in awe, a little jealous of their power. The two boys turned around to take a look at the girl, taking in her features.

She had fair skin, dark eyes and shirt light blue hair which she kept in a spiky ponytail with long strands of hair framing her face. She wore a teal short kimono with a gray turtle neck and short sleeves with a jade-green rope belt around his waist, and red shorts, light purple wrist bands and navy blue sandals.

Haku smiled kindly. "Hello, I am Haku Yuki and this one is Naruto Uzumaki. Are you alright?"

The girl stared at Haku for a moment. While he seemed strong…he looked like a freaking girl! Well…his face did anyway. She then turned her head to the blond and smirked. He seemed like the stronger of the two and well, she wondered if that dead like state was a bloodline. Hell Haku could have the Ice Bloodline for all she knew. "Yes, I am. Thank you. My name is Guren Lagan." She paused for a moment and then asked. "Why are you here anyway? This village is pretty out of the way."

"Simple, our sensei heard about your unique bloodline and your situation." Naruto replied. "Hell is it similar to ours?"

"Your bloodline users as well?" Guren asked in shock.

"Sort of. I am an Ice user, which is bloodline from Kiri." Haku stated before eyeing Naruto, wondering if the blond would tell his secret.

Naruto smile as well. "Yeah, I am not a bloodline user. I am the Jinchuriki from Konoha."

Guren stared wide eyed at that two. They were people who understood her pain! And they were strong. She liked that. Yes she heard what Konoha did to their Jinchuriki. It was sad, but it connected them. "So, your sensei must pretty strong and level headed to deal with you and make you strong AND he is looking for another? I am your gal then."

Naruto and Haku looked at each other in amusement. This girl, despite the abuse, was pretty full of herself. "You hit the nail on the head kid." Zabuza's voice stated. Said man came up right behind them and put his hands on the boys' shoulders. "I have made them strong in my own way. However, they were already strong in their own right. I see that same strength in you Guren. Haku, my first apprentice was an orphan boy who had just killed his father during the bloodline purges and still retained his kind nature. Naruto, my second apprentice. He was treated as the thing he holds inside him and yet, he is still a goofy idiot who can change people's hearts."

Guren smiled at that. Sure, she knew who this man was and was entirely surprised at his behavior due to the rumors around the man. If what he said was true…then Naruto does have that power. "I accept." She said with full determination and a bit of smugness.

"Now there is you, Guren, my third apprentice. I can see that despite your own hardships, you have retained a bit of smugness and if I am not mistaken, a bit of vanity as well." Zabuza stated.

Guren blushed at that. "You could say that." Then she took on a smug look as he produced a pink crystal and looked at her own reflection. "But you do have to admit, I am pretty hot for a 15 year old."

Zabuza said nothing, a bit annoyed already. However, Naruto, being the smartass he is, stated, "I agree and while a beauty such as yourself is now a part of our group, maybe you can teach Haku here how to be a real girl."

Haku steamed at that. "What was that, Naruto-kun?"

"Well come one man, you dress like a girl, you have the looks of a girl, and I am pretty sure this beauty can help you be a girl." Naruto joked around with a big smile.

Guren was already seeing the team dynamic between these two and was intrigued. However, now came her personality into the mix. She sauntered up to the blond with a sly smile. "My, coming onto me already, eh blondie? While I admit mister girlie could use a few pointers, are you sure you want him as a true girl? You know, you could just have me."

Naruto froze, stuck in his own prank and with a slack jaw. Zabuza roared with laughter, glad that someone finally got him. Haku smiled kindly, but this time it seemed very creepy. "Well, she turned that on you pretty quick, didn't she?"

At Naruto's noncoherent blabber, Guren laughed. "Oh yeah, this will be fun! But don't worry blondie, I am not that into you. I actually think I could go for the girlie one."

"W-what?" Haku almost shouted, completely off guard.

Guren chuckled before walking to the exit of the village. "Don't just stand there boys, let's get a move on!"

At Naruto and Haku's gob smacked expressions, Zabuza smirked as he followed after the girl. "Oh yeah, you two are so screwed."

The two remained in place for a few seconds before they got out of their daze and ran after them. Their little group had gotten a hell of a lot more interesting.

XXX

Zabuza grimaced at the news he just heard while he and his students were eating at a restaurant a few villages over. It had been a day since they let and there was already bad news. He had been right about Orochimaru being in the area and it seemed that he was after Guren. However, since she was not there, the sick man destroyed the entire village before disappearing. _Why are things never easy?_

Oh well, it could not be helped. Now to focus on their training. He would have to help Guren develop her own techniques, just like he was doing to with Haku and his ice. Naruto, however, was another story. His Death jutsu was very interesting, but he needed more…variety to his attacks.

Nodding to himself, he addressed the kids. "Ok. Here is how training will go. Naruto, your clones will work on the next stage of elemental manipulation for your elements and work on some of the jutsu that Gato had in his private collection. Those are rightly yours since you killed him and blew up his place. However, I think it would be best if we branch out more. I want you to find something of Seals. Your family excelled in those and I am sure you can too."

Naruto smirked. "Aye captain of the Bloody Massacre!" He said with a goofy grin as he used his darkness to manipulate his saluting hand and eyes to go all dead like, scaring a few nearby customers.

"Knock it off dumbass!" Zabuza raged at Naruto as he whacked him upside the dead. "Now…on to Haku. I want you to work on your speed. If possible, work with Naruto in the Taijutsu department. He has good speed and enhance strength due to the fox. Also, we need to think up some more jutsu for you. Using the same thing over and over could make you predictable."

"Yes sir." Haku said respectfully.

"Guren, I think I can help you with your future jutsu. I knew a guy who could do something similar. We will have to work on that. We will also see about your Taijutsu. I also want toy try and teach you about poisons since Haku here is into the medical field as well. That way he have a few more bases covered." Zabuza ended.

"Sounds like a plan, big man." Guren replied.

"Good and Guren, just ask both boy's, my training is hell." Zabuza replied with an evil look that made the girl shiver.

XXX

Kakashi sighed as he looked at the memorial stone in sadness. His team had returned about a week ago and things…were not great at all. After finding out that Naruto was MIA, the Hokage was enraged, especially when Kakashi told him that Naruto confessed about the Kyuubi.

Now, imagine the elderly Hokage's surprise when he saw Kakashi's remaining students support Naruto and even go so far as to say they would bring back their friend and hero. Still, Naruto disappearance had proved how…dark the citizens on Konoha had gotten. They fell from grace many years ago with their arrogance in his eyes, but now, celebrating the loss of the Naruto was a new low, even for them. In his and Kakashi's eyes, Konoha had true fallen.

After that, the parents, with Naruto no longer there, spread word of Naruto's true condition and that created a rift within the village. The younger generation respected Naruto now more than ever and they resented the elder generation for what they did to Naruto. The rift widened even more when Sasuke and Sakura told people of Naruto's father. It wasn't just a generation thing after that. It was near panic for everyone.

The village looked to be at the brink of their first civil war all because of the Third Hokage's foolish decisions.

No, this did not bode well at all.

XXXXX

**So yeah, that's the second chapter. I hope you liked the little pun i did with Guren's name.  
**

**Review!**


	3. Welcome to the Land of Sand

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 3**

**For those that have not noticed yet, I have a poll on my profile. Please check it out. Also, i need some art done for this, could someone PLEASE contact me for that.**

Things have been pretty hectic for Zabuza since that day he took in Guren. The three brats got along pretty well and messed with each other a lot. Like how Guren took advantage of Naruto's simple mindedness at times.

But he had to divide his attention a lot and those little brats gave it to him good when he was not truly paying attention. Naruto had resumed his pranking and dragged Haku and Guren into it. It was driving him up the wall, but thinking on it, he wouldn't trade these kids for all the gold in the world.

Yes, he still had plans to go back to Mist and kill the Mizukage with Mei. He owed her that much for just up and disappearing after his failed attempt of killing the Mizukage. However, he knew these kids were _far_ from ready to go against a Kage and fully trained Jinichuriki nonetheless.

Truth was…he was just afraid to face the woman. Yes, that's right, even the feared Demon of the Mist could be afraid. He was afraid because he feared what the woman would think of him. They had been friends since after the Genin Exams. They were on the same team before he joined the Swordsmen. Then…they went out and he wanted to propose to her, but the Mizukage was getting nervous again and was cracking down even harder on the Bloodline users. After that, things all went to hell all because he wanted a family of his own. Heh, he had a family now….he just needed a loving wife. But life is cruel like that.

Thinking about his students, he looked to his newest student, who was teasing the boys. They were currently at a co-ed hot spring, relaxing. Guren was quiet the shinobi with here poison skills. Her keen perception of her surroundings and of fights gave her a dangerous mind in battle and it helped her teammates with their fighting styles. Her powers over the Crystal Release were impressive. Finally after a month or so of work on her earth manipulation, she was getting better at standalone earth jutsu and it was helping with her Crystal jutsu as well.

Then there was Haku, his first apprentice. He had gotten faster like he wanted and he often wondered if Haku had a second bloodline. It wouldn't be unheard of, just rare. Now if he did have a second bloodline, he hoped it was the Swift Release because it would explain Haku's rare bursts of pure speed where no one could keep up with him. In addition to that, Haku had gained a few more Ice Jutsu. Hell, he was also getting into medical jutsu from a scroll he picked up in town they passed. He was doing well.

Finally was Naruto, one of his best students. Konoha was full of a bunch of fools if they let this kid get away. His shadow clone jutsu really sped up his training. He had full mastery over Wind and Fire. All he needed to do was actually make his own jutsu for those…unless he already did and the Demon of the Mist didn't know it. Now came the fun part. Water. He was going to take them to the desert for a reason. If Naruto and Haku could pull water out of that air, then they could pull it out anywhere.

Naruto also seemed to have good control of the Darkness element. Zabuza guessed it was because of those weapons, but he could be wrong. And then there was Kyuubi. Zabuza was not proud about what he did to bring the beast out, but Naruto could now use its power….if barely.

Zabuza knew he had a lot more work to do with these kids, but that was the challenge of it. They were already pretty strong for their age and they didn't have a village to hold them back with stupid D rank missions. Now that was a thought. Maybe he should get them a few missions.

"Oh Haku! I didn't know you where this forward!" Guren laughed.

"I didn't mean it!" Haku freaked.

Naruto could be heard laughing. "Come on girlie boy, don't tell me you haven't thought about it. Or are you gay?"

"Oh Naruto, don't be so hard on him. I bet you're just jealous of the position he is in." Guren said.

"I think any guy would be. He is just the lucky one." Naruto grumbled aloud.

"Ugh…this again." Zabuza groaned.

XXX

The gang made it to the desert like Zabuza had planned a few days later. "Man, it's so hot." Naruto complained and his companions did not argue about that. It was freaking scorching out!

"Come to think of it, WHY are we here?" Haku asked.

"For the next stage of training for you two." Zabuza answered. "Haku, I am sure you can teach Naruto the second part of stage two of Water Manipulation. I know you know this, but last time it was easy because of the environment we were in. If the two of you can pull water out of _this_ environment, then your training for Water Manipulation will be complete."

"What about me?" Guren asked.

"While they are doing what I told them to do over by that out cropping of rock, we will be over in that oasis over there, sparring. At least I hope it is an oasis." Guren sweat dropped at that. Zabuza was already suffering from the heat. "Come on, I want to see how far you are." Guren nodded and followed after her, hopefully not delirious, sensei.

"Well." Naruto sighed. "Let's do our thing."

Haku nodded while looking at Guren as she and their sensei left.

XXX

After Haku had taught him what to do, Naruto quickly got to work, but each time Haku tried pulling water out of the air, it just got hotter!

Haku's mind, however, was not on his task. It was on a certain female member of their group. "Naruto….what do you think of Guren?"

Naruto stopped for a moment to consider the question before he went back to concentrating. "Odd question man, but I think she is pretty cool. Sure she is flirtier than me and I am still clueless to girl's feelings toward me, but I don't think she is for me. I want someone closer in age to me." He then eyed Haku and smirked. "So my female looking friend, do you like her like that?"

Haku shook his head at his best friend's constant use of calling him girlie looking. "You could say that. What do you think I should do?"

Naruto gave him a stupid look. "Are you deaf? I just told you how clueless I am towards girls' feeling towards me and you want advice from a guy like that?"

"But you flirt with Guren!" Haku countered.

"Harmless, which will never get me anywhere." Naruto replied nonchalantly. "But even though I am clueless with things toward me…I can see how she looks at you. Take for example the incident at the hot springs. If that had been me that 'accidently' got pushed and then slipped and fell into her breasts, she would have beat my head in. She has a thing for you man, just ask her out."

Haku put on an annoyed look. Sure he was graceful for the advice but Naruto just admitted he pushed him. "So it was you!" Haku shouted as he flung a ball of water at the blond's face.

"This water is not even refreshingly cold Haku." Naruto deadpanned, expecting it to be cold due to his powers. However, they both were smiling after a moment. Sure they would fight, but they would always help each other out.

"Thank's Naruto." Haku replied.

"No, really, why is it not cold!" Naruto whined as he unwittingly used his chakra to pull some water out the air and flung it at the ice user.

"Sorry, I am at a disadvantage here in the desert." Haku smiled, but his tone was snide as he dodged the water.

There banter went on for a few minutes longer, their minds not on the water control at all but they were actually doing it and the air was getting drier. "And now my friend, we need to get you a girl." Haku said happily.

"Oh don't go there man, you still have to ask Guren out!" Naruto said as he lost a bit of control and pulled too much out of the air. The rest was a large globe of water that shot past Haku. They didn't realize it, but their water fight had taken them past the small out cropping of rocks. Now they were near a large nest of scorpions. Normally that wasn't so bad, but these were….huge. Merchant Cart huge and the water splashed right into their nest.

"Oh…no." Haku replied quietly and fearfully but the large desert dwellers heard him and turned.

"I think we should run." Naruto deadpanned, realizing his mistake.

"YOU THINK?" Haku screamed as they ran for it.

XXX

"You did well Guren." Zabuza said as he saw on a rock near the water of the Oasis.

"You still beat me, even in your weakened, delirious state." Guren sighed. "I guess you really are strong."

"Well, I have been training on my own as well…I am nowhere near S-class and I have to protect my students somehow."

Guren smiled. Her teacher was a big softie despite his reputation. She smiled as she leaned on the man's shoulder. "I am glad you guys found me instead of that freak who killed off my entire village."

Zabuza, still uncomfortable with his feelings with these kids, just wrapped his arm around the girl.

Guren closed her eyes for a moment, ignoring the heat of the desert, before she snapped them open. "The ground is shaking."

"What?" Zabuza asked, wondering if she was getting as sick as he was.

"The earth is shaking despite most of it being sand!" Guren freaked as they stood up and a few seconds later, Zabuza felt it and tried to keep his lunch in.

"AAAAHHHH!" Came the screams of the soaked forms Naruto and Haku as they ran past them. Zabuza looked at them like they were nuts.

"What's after them?" He asked.

"Scorpions!" Guren screamed before she too ran away.

"Scorpions? They can't be that bad, can they?" The Demon of the Mist asked before he turned around only to pale. "Son of a bitch!"

XXX

Orochimaru smiled that sly snake like smile of his as he and his guards met with the Fourth Kazekage and his guards in a mountainous region of Suna….which was basically near Suna itself.

However, while Gaara's father wanted to get more business back from Konoha, he didn't feel that this man would keep his word. He had the sinking feeling, despite his power, he could not beat Orochimaru in a fair fight. No, this had to end. Konoha was still their ally and maybe he could talk to the Hokage for a better deal. That old man was not unreasonable after all.

"Hello Kazekage. Have you decided about our deal?" Orochimaru asked in his odd airy voice that sent chills down people's spines.

"I have Orochimaru." The Kazekage replied in an even tone.

"And?" the snake man asked, already getting tired of this run around.

"We will not join you for your foolish endeavors. I will speak to the Hokage personally about what is happening. He is not unreasonable." The Leader of Suna replied.

"How…disappointing. I fear-" Orochimaru was going to kill the man one way or another, but there was something wrong. He felt the earth they were on shake. Was that even possible in this land? He looked to where he thought the source was and he got an eyeful of kids and one adult running for their lives. In fact, they would be running right past them. WHY?

"AAAHHHH!" Naruto, the young blond screamed in fear as he ran passed. His darkness powers acting up and making look like a running skeleton in the desert at times.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GET US IN THESE SITUATIONS, NARUTO!" Haku, a girlie looking boy, cried out to the heavens as he kept pace with is friend.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THAT FOOL SO THIS SHIT DOESN'T HAPPEN, HAKU!" Guren, a blue haired girl shouted angrily yet panicked at the time.

_Wait, isn't that the Crystal User?_ The snake man thought in shock.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BRATS FOR THIS! I AM IN NO CONDITION TO FIGHT THOSE THINGS!" Zabuza, a notable nuknin shouted as he too was running for his life.

_HE GOT THE GIRL?_ Orochimaru thought angrily.

Meanwhile, the Kazekage knew what Orochimaru was about to do and was thanking his lucky stars that those kids, mainly the blond one, and oddly enough, the Demon of the Mist, made a great distraction for him and his guards. However, he knew what was after them with scent alone. Suna's little scorpion problem.

So he made his special Gold Clone and signaled for his men is to go help that group that just ran by and to secretly kill off Orochimaru's men. He would deal with the scorpion and snake problems all in one.

And sure enough, they came. Apparently, by what those kids were shouting, the blond must have disturbed a nest of the big ones. _Fuck_. The Kazekage thought as he sent in his gold dust to weigh them down.

At this point, Orochimaru got the point as he took out his special sword to run them all through, unknowingly getting some of the gold dust on him. While one final swing, the madly smiling man ran the 'Kazekage' through.

"Nothing personal, but I need your pathetic village. Your ninja will make great cannon fodder for the ninja of Konoha." Orochimaru teased to the dying man.

The Kazekage clone looked up to Orochimaru in fear before that look turned into a smirk. "Sorry, but I am not dying today!"

Orochimaru tried to retaliate, he really did, but he felt weighed down too much. For a Sennin, he was moving at a snail's pace and that was not boding well for him as he tried to escape. Go figure that the body of the Kazekage exploded in a shower of gold dust before all that attached itself to him!

As it stopped all movement, it was slowly covering his body. It was like looking at a statue! "Ugh! When I get out of this I will kill you!" Orochimaru screamed in rage.

"Not even you can get out of that, prepare to die." The Kazekage said calmly as he appeared before the man and took his fallen sword.

"I WILL BE back! AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" Orochimaru screamed in rage but knowing that even if ONE curse seal was active, he could return.

With that, the gold covered his face and the Kazekage looked on in respect. "Today, Orochimaru of the Sannin dies! **Gold Style: Golden Impact!"** The golden man flew into the air before it started caving in on itself into a large gold ball. With a wave of his hand, the ball soared down to the ground, creating a crater in the sand, which soon filled up.

"Be lost with in the sands for all time." The Kazekage stated to his fallen enemy before disappearing in a golden Body Flicker to rejoin in guard and that very odd group. He had to thank them personally.

XXX

The group had been escorted to the one place they had not planned on going. The Kazekage's office in Suna. The man looked at them all with piercing eyes. It was unnerving to say the least. Finally, he spoke. "First of all, I would like to thank you for being the distraction that I needed. I am in your debt, if you need help, just ask."

The group of four just stared at the Kazekage in shock. The man was not known to be this…hospitable. Zabuza nodded. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, may we stay for a day so I can continue to train my students? Haku and Naruto still need to learn how to pull water out of air like this."

The Kazekage nodded. "Well it is odd see you, Demon of the Mist, I will offer a place to stay for your time here. There is a hotel down the street that will give you a free night, on the house."

"Thank you Kazekage-sama." Zabuza said respectfully.

Since that was arranged, the Kazekage was curious about the man's students. "Please, could you tell me about your students? They must be exceptional if they are being taught by you." The man could read people as well and it seemed that this kids, tamed the infamous demon. He seemed to be a caring person to these kids, not he mass murderer that many said that he was.

Zabuza nodded. He supposed that was fair. They were in the man's village, so he had to follow the rules. "The girl is Guren Lagan. She is a very good warrior and she is a Crystal Release user. She has many skills in combat that can turn any battle her way."

"Not many Crystal users in the world nowadays." The Kazekage replied. He knew of that old clan. Why one of them was here of all places made no sense. They were from Iwa. But they were said to have died out. She must be the last of her clan.

"Next, is my first apprentice. Haku Yuki. He is an Ice Release user with exceptional speed and I have the sinking feeling it borders on another bloodline." Zabuza replied, hoping the man knew what he was talking about. He wanted to tell Haku when he was ready.

The Leader of Suna nodded. _That_ bloodline was indeed rare and to have it in a Yuki clan member. Well, that would make them unstoppable in the speed department. It is such a shame that Kiri is the way it is. Konoha did try and get some of the bloodline users out of there, but that ended with the White Fang's death. Since then, no other village has bothered to try.

"Finally, we have my best, yet most idiotic student." Zabuza stated, ignoring Naruto's outburst. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He is the son of my hero, Kushina Uzumaki and the Yellow Flash."

"Not to mention the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I do hope he is stable." The redish haired kage stated calmly.

Zabuza's eye twitched at that. "I trust the Fourth Hokage's seal making prowess and from what I have seen, he is more human that any jinchuriki I know."

"Good." The kage said, very relieved as he sagged in his chair. "His parents were strong and with the Kyuubi in him and his heritage, he would be near unstoppable…if trained right."

"You seemed pretty nervous to know I was stable, why? Don't tell me you have the Shukaku in someone?" Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. When the Kage didn't answer and looked guilty, Naruto widened his eyes. "No way, you did! Who?"

The kage sighed. "My youngest son." That made the group's eyes widen. "I wanted a weapon for Suna, so I used my son…the biggest mistake of my life." Naruto was looking at him strangely so he elaborated more. "Naruto, this is not Konoha, so it is run differently. The council basically runs the village and I am just a powerful figure head. While I do have power, I cannot over throw the council or go against their decision."

The Kage sighed again. "I have always been torn been the village and my family, which I value greatly. But, that decision of the village over my own family has back fired greatly. It killed my wife and the Shukaku has warped the mind of my son, more so after the council decided that he was a failure and used my wife's brother to kill him. That didn't end well…for her brother."

"That's not right." Naruto growled.

"I take no value in what has been done and it has torn apart my family." The Kaze replied. "My oldest, Temari usually takes care of my younger sons and is always trying to get through to Garra, the Jinchuriki."

"That…has to suck." Guren replied with a dead panned expression.

"Yes and that is why I ask you to stay away from Gaara, he might try and kill you to prove his existence." The Kage replied and the group nodded before leaving the office.

XXX

The next day, after their morning training, Zabuza let them all do what they wanted to do because he got sick again. The man did not like the desert at all. That was fine with Haku and Guren as they finally went out on their date. Naruto didn't go because he would feel like third wheel. So now he was wondering the streets of Suna…extremely bored and that was never good for anybody.

In his bored state, he ran into someone. Help them up, he found that it was a cat suit make up wear guy. "Sorry about that mister cat."

"I am not a cat!" The teen shouted. "I am Kankuro!"

"Well, nice to meet ya man." Naruto replied before he notice they were in front of book store and it was showing off the new issue of Icha Icha.

While he was observing the book store, Kankuro took a look at the blond, noticing he was the boy that he father talked about. "You don't look like much, but my dad talked about you."

"Hmm? Oh you much be one of the Kazekage's kids." Naruto replied.

"Yep." Kankuro replied with a small but annoyed smirk. This kid would probably just kiss his ass not that he knew who he was.

However, Naruto's prankster mind made him smile. "So….a Kage's kid, huh? I bet you can get away with more than others."

"You could say that." Kankuro replied, not entirely sure what this kid was getting at.

"How about we pull off a little prank."

"What do you have in mind?" The older ninja asked.

XXX

"Ok, I go down there and calmly talk to those kids at the park. You whistle or something when you have the chakra strings attached and watch the freakout." Naruto said with a big shit eating grin before he jumped off of the building they were on to the park below.

Kankuro snickered. "This kid is awesome. If this works and we escape, that means we are the best…yeah." He watched as Naruto started talking to a group of kids that seemed to like him. Soon, the puppet user has all his chakra strings attached and whistled. After that, he could not help but laugh his ass off.

Naruto had got skeleton and Kankuro was making him do a dance, which freaked out the kids and made them all run, screaming home.

"What the hell are you doing?" came a female voice behind the puppet user, making him freeze.

Kankuro nervously looked him to see his big sister. "Uh…hi Temari."

"Reel in that fool and then get the hell out of my sight." The four pony tailed girl commanded and the boy just nodded, knowing that this was a not a good place to be if his sister was pissed. So he pulled the younger blond to the roof and then got the hell of out dodge.

Naruto reverted back to normal and said, "Yo! Where's the fire?"

Kankuro didn't even bother answering as he ran away. Naruto that was never a good sign and by the tapping sound behind him, he knew they had been caught. Turning behind him, he saw a very beautiful blond woman behind him. He recognize this older teen from the picture in the Kazekage's office. "Ah, you must be Temari."

"You would be correct." The blond woman replied with a straight face. "What the hell do you and my idiot brother think you were doing?"

"A harmless prank?" Naruto suggested nervously.

"It is stupid…but oddly comical." Temari replied.

"While I admit it was stupid for kids and all that, I was extremely bored." Naruto groaned. "My teammates are a on a date and I am stuck wondering the streets of a village I know nothing about."

Temari took pity at that. He was a foreigner and she knew her brother wouldn't bother showing a kid around. And she did admit that it was a bit boring here, that was why she was always training. Taking another look at the boy her father was interested in, she could not help but think he was cute. And he was not eyeing her up like most of the idiots her age. _Maybe I could give this kid a chance._

"Fine. I understand about the boredom this place has." Temari replied and then turned to the side a bit so he didn't see her blush. "I also wouldn't mind showing you around."

"Great!" Naruto said happily. "It's a date then!"

"W-what?" Temari whipped her head around and was blushing a bit, as she was not used to going on any dates.

"Yeah! A pretty girl like you showing an outsider like me around this place. I don't mind calling it a date." Naruto replied.

Temari smiled at being called pretty. Most of the other guys just ogled her, but didn't dare ask her out do to her being the daughter of the Kage. "Yeah, I would like that." She said as she took his hand and they walked away from the park.

A pair of teal green eyes watching them as they did. "You are powerful, Uzumaki. You blood will fed mother!"

XXXX

**Yeah, that's the 3****rd**** chapter for those of you that are going to bitch, don't. I have no use for orochimaru in my story, so yeah, i kill him off.  
**

**I bet you can guess what is going to happen in the fourth chapter. What will happen on Naruto and Temari's date? Probably not much because I suck at that. Oh well. Naruto vs Gaara? Hell yeah.**


	4. Naruto vs Gaara

**Grim Reaper of Iwa **

**Chapter 4**

Right in the middle of their date, Haku and Guren saw that Naruto was walking around the Sand Village with a very attractive blond woman about their age. Guren eventually recognized her as the Kazekage's oldest daughter!

"The hell is he doing with her." Guren asked out of concern. While they flirted a lot, she saw the young blond as more of a little brother. So naturally she would be concerned if some girl took an interest in him, especially if she was the Kazekage's daughter.

"I do not know, but before we left, I remember Zabuza-sama mentioning to keep an eye on him in case this sort of thing happened. The Kazekage didn't look like it, but he was very interested in Naruto." Haku replied.

"Well then…I am sure we can pick up this late later, so let's make sure our little brother is safe." Guren stated.

"Right." Haku affirmed. He wanted to protect his brother figure and while he was enjoying the date, they could always pick this up later. However, another part of him wanted to strangle the younger blond for being such a pain.

XXX

This 'date' was pretty interesting to say the least. As Temari showed him around with a nice smile on her face, he noticed how everyone seemed to look at her with respect. However, the treatment he got was different. Some smiled at him and openly thanked him for helping keep their Kage alive, others…mostly guys…glared at him. He just assumed it was because he was walking around the village with a hottie like Temari.

Heh, and you know, Temari actually had a pleasant personality. Despite being the daughter of nobility….or this case the leader of a village, she was not snobbish. That was refreshing to him.

Temrari smiled. If she had been with any other boy, they would probably make lewd comments and be all around assholes. However, not Naruto. Sure he would flirt with her, but he was not a jerk about anything. He was quite the gentleman.

His personality intrigued her as well. He would be really insightful and smart one minute and be incredibly stupid the next. He was an enigma to her and it was driving her NUTS!

There was one other thing. He was a Jinchuriki like her brother and he was incredibly stable. If she could find out how he does it, maybe she could help her little brother. She felt there was still hope for him after all.

She was brought out of her thoughts when someone called her name. Looking at the person, she smiled. It was one of her female friends who had just become a genin….or was it that she was trying to be a genin…eh whatever.

"Hey Temari! Oh? Who is your friend?" A brown haired girl asked as she came up to them.

"Hey Matsuri, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Temari replied. "Hey, have you seen my brother at all?"

"Sorry no." Matsuri replied and Naruto noticed that a few people around them tensed when the boy was mentioned, but the girl did not.

"Sorry to sound rude, but I noticed something. You didn't seem to tense up when Temari mentioned her brother…unlike some of the passersby." Naruto said, throwing both girls for a loop.

"I don't fear him like other people. Sure, his personality can be a bit abrasive and I am too shy to even talk to him, but I don't fear and hate him like the others do. Actually, I pity what has been done to him." The girl replied.

On a nearby building, Gaara looked down and heard what she said. He honestly didn't know what to think to that. Ever since this new blond came to town, Shukaku seemed to be interested in him and not in the usual way…yet. Hearing things like that made him think.

"I see." Naruto replied. "I am glad you answered truthfully."

"Right…" Temari said, not really knowing how to respond to that. "Well, we better get going. I still have show Naruto around the village and then get something to eat."

As they kept on walking, Naruto decided to ask a question of his own. "Temari, what is Gaara like and what do you think of him?"

Temari smiled. "Gaara is like Matsuri described but that is because there have been multiple assassinations on him, I am sure father told you about that. But the one that got to him the most and made him what he is today was the one from his own uncle."

"Harsh." Naruto grimaced.

"I don't hate my brother either. I actually hate what has been done to my baby brother. I actually tried to get to know him when we were younger, but father never thought it was good idea and I just went along with it." Temari looked sad at this point. "I was such a fool. Even if he says he loves only himself, I can see he is hurting. I…I just want my baby brother back."

Naruto looked at her sadly, seeing a new side of her that most probably never did. It was a softer side to her. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled. "There is always a way, maybe we'll find one."

Temari smiled with some tears threatening to spill over her eyes. "Thanks, Naruto."

XXX

And find a place to eat they did. They found a small barbeque place to eat and Naruto was enjoying it since he was paying and he encouraged Temari to eat whatever she wanted. Normally, Temari could pay since she was the Kage's daughter and she would get a small discount, but since this was a date, she caved.

This boy actually made her smile as he told her jokes, the pranks he did, and his adventures with his team. She could tell he was a smart shinobi…in some aspects, but it was nice. So she told him stories of her missions out of the village with her brothers. He even listened to her and didn't even ogle her like most boys would. Hell, he seemed excited at some of the stuff they did and what she could do. It was nice.

"Hey, since you are a wind user as well, why don't we spar?" Temari suggested.

"Sure, I'm game!" Naruto replied with a big smile. A date and a spar? This was awesome!"

As they got up to leave however, Temari noticed a lone konuichi at a table. She recognized this person and walked over to her, confusing her blond companion a bit.

When they got there, the woman looked at them and smiled at Temari. She had green hair, which she tied in a bun on top of her head with a hair needle running through it. She also had two locks of hair with orange tips framing each side of her face. She also had brown eyes.

Her attire consisted of a sleeveless, backless top and short tight pants, with two lapels on the front and the back. She wore an obi around her waist, as well as purple arm-warmers which extend up to her shoulders, and has bandages around her tights and ankles

"Temari, what can I do for you? I thought you were on a date." The woman replied with a sly smirk.

"Pakura, I just wanted to say hi to a friend since you are all by yourself…again. Did you fry someone again?" Temari asked with a small blush on her face.

Pakura had a red face at that and she looked angry. "That idiot call me a slut, so I taught him a lesson."

"Fair enough" Temari replied. "This is Naruto Uzumaki by the way. Naruto, this is Pakura, our resident Scorch Release User."

Naruto blinked at that. He had not expected to be pulled in the conversation once Temari didn't immediately answer the woman's question. "Scorch Release….don't think i have ever heard of it. Anyway, nice to meet you Pakura." He said as he shook her hand.

XXX

"What is she playing at? Introducing him to all these hot ass women." Guren asked her self aloud.

"I think she is just being nice." Haku replied honestly. After all that is what it seemed like to him.

"That's what they want you to think Haku-chan. You may look like a girl in some aspects, but your defiantly don't have the mind of one." Guren replied, making the Ice User's eye twitch.

XXX

Pakura smiled. This one actually seemed like a good guy. Too bad he was too young for her…and with Temari. She took the hand a shook it. "Yes, nice to see that Temari found a guy that doesn't ogle every girl he sees."

_Not openly of course. A quick once over is good enough for me._ Naruto counter in his mind.

"To answer your question, Scorch Release is a type of bloodline. It uses extremely hot fire to attack one's enemies. I think the elements are strong Fire and Wind affinities, which you seem to have." The woman replied.

"What? How did you know that?" Naruto asked in shock.

Pakura smiled. "I can also read people's chakra through skin contact. You are very interesting."

"Heh, thanks." Naruto replied while rubbing the back of his head. Then a thought came to mind. "Would it be possible to replicate the results of a bloodline through hard work?"

Pakura seemed to consider that for a moment. "I think it _could_ be possible, but it would be extremely hard to do. Thinking about being another Scorcher?"

"Maybe. I have been wondering if I could combine elements, and now that I know it is possible, I am going to try and replicate my teammate Ice powers first." Naruto replied and he swore he heard someone yell out 'copycat.' Oh well, probably just his imagination.

XXX

"Shut it! Do you want us to be noticed?" Guren asked in a hushed whisper, taking this recon thing way to serious for Haku's taste. And with her hand over his mouth, he settled for giving her a deadpanned look.

XXX

"Well good luck with that." Pakura chuckled. She didn't even want to think how much work that would be. "Well…I have taken up enough of your time. You two should get back to your date." She laughed to herself as they quickly exited with small blushes on their faces. Yes, she could tell they had a thing for each other. "Now I go to find someone who is not an asshole."

XXX

For the past hour or so, Gaara watched his sister and the one called Naruto spar. Either with just ninjutsu or taijutsu. He could tell that his sister was impressed with the blond boy. However, none of that actually mattered to Gaara.

The words from earlier were still ringing with in his mind. Yes, he loved only himself and that was what made him strong. However, Naruto told his sister that protecting those precious to you is what makes you truly strong. It was conflicting to his mind.

And the words of his sister and that one villager was eating away at him. Pity and Love. All he knew was hate. Those emotions were foreign to him and he needed to stop this!

"**Kill them now then….heh. The boy is a Jinchuriki like you, kill them and you kill their tenant, and we will be stronger! I will love you for it….son." ** Shukaku madly cackled to his container. Yes, if Gaara could get rid of the Kyuubi, then they would be one step closer to be the strongest! The balance would be upset but he didn't care! He was MAD!

"Yes…mother." Gaara ground out his gravelly voice before he disappeared in a sand shunshin. He then reappeared between them. "MOTHER WANTS YOUR BLOOD, NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

"What the hell?" Naruto asked aloud as he dodged a column of sand that came his way. "YO! What did I do to you?"

"You cannot change me, Uzumaki. I am what I am and I will show you that my way is stronger! Fight ONLY for yourself! Love only yourself!" Gaara shouted madly.

"Stop this Gaara!" Temari shouted in fear for the blond and her own brother. She didn't know how this battle would go.

However, he just ignored her, but shot a stream of sand at her. That stream hardened around her, forming a cocoon around her, leaving only her head free. "If you think your strength comes from protecting others weaker than you, SHOW ME! DEFEAT ME AND I WILL FREE HER! IF NOT, SHE DIES!"

"Shit." Naruto growled. This Gaara was really getting on his nerves, but if this is what I took to open his eyes, then so be it. "Fine, just me and you then. I will open your eyes Gaara."

"Wait! Let us help!" Haku shouted as he and Guren appeared.

"No, this is a battle to prove who's ideal is stronger. This something I have to do and see if the path I am taking is the right one." Naruto said with conviction in his voice and they saw the determination in his eyes. They knew he was doing this because he too was a Jinchuriki. He had something to prove.

"Just don't die, idiot!" Guren shouted before they jumped over to Temari to make sure she was ok. "You think Naruto will win?"

"I…I am not sure." Temari replied honestly. She just hoped they didn't hurt each other too badly.

The stare off between Naruto and Gaara only lasted a few seconds before Gaara screamed in rage and sand swallowed him. It formed a tanuki shell around him. He was taking this fight seriously and he didn't feel like fucking around his opponent the way he usually did by just standing there and letting his sand take the blows. He was in this for the kill.

Naruto nodded to himself as he charged the sand creature, only to be swatted away like a fly before Gaara manipulated the sand even more and kunai shot out of the ground toward the blond. However, instead of a small number, it was thousands of them.

"Shit." Naruto said while in midair. Thinking quickly, he performed a jutsu he had been working on. "**Wind Style: Solid Cyclone Shield!**" Before Naruto, a shield like construct formed and not only stopped the attack, but combined with it.

XXX

"What the…I have never seen a wind attack like that." Temari nearly shouted.

"Apparently it is an attack of his own design." A voice said from behind the trio of observers. The Kazekage, Zabuza, and nearly all of Suna were, watching the battle, hoping they didn't have to interfere.

"I knew he made his own attacks. It is hard to tell what all those shadow clones of his are always doing." Zabuza grumbled. He was not happy that he had to watch this fight. He thought Naruto was going to lay low. Of course not. Why would he do that?

"When the hell did you all get here?" Guren asked.

Zabuza chuckled. "Just now, but you were too focused on their battle to notice.

XXX

Naruto stared at Gaara through is attack before he put a hand to his shield and said, "Charge." The shield shot off like a rocket and slammed into the One Tailed Jinchuriki. Gaara feel the air leave him and much more as he was propelled off his feet, but as expected, the nearby sand safely caught him.

"You will have to do a lot more than that, UZUMAKI!" Gaara roared as he charged the blond in a blind rage.

"Apparently." Naruto said to himself as he took out kunai and add an explosive note to it. "Unfortunately, I will have to use something from Konoha." He charged right at the walking sand monster and as Gaara took a swing at him, he slid underneath the red head. He then shouted, "**1000 Years of Great Pain!**" as he stuck the kunai under the tail. Gaara's response was to wack him away with the sand tail while everyone laughed at that attack or was just annoyed.

As he was flying away, Naruto smirked and said, "Boom." The affect was instant; a massive explosion overtook Gaara, breaking the integrity of his sand cloak. It just poured right off him."

Seeing this, Naruto didn't let up. He created around a two hundred shadow clone to beat Gaara. **"Naruto Uzumaki Infinite Combo!"**

Gaara felt the unrelenting punches and kicks as all the clones kicked him up into the sky and then punched him down to the ground. He then noticed that four clones stayed in existence as all the other disappeared. And they were glowing. So, not taking any chances, he brought up his ultimate defense and cocooned himself in a sphere of sand.

Naruto didn't know if this was going to work, but he had to try. "Gaara, this is over. **Wind Style: Four Winds Destruction!**" The wind powered clones exploded upon contact when they touched Gaara's sand shield.

The result was a fairly large sphere of wind, shredding everything in it to shreds.

XXX

"Holy crap!" Kankuro yelled next to his sister. 'I don't know if Gaara's sand can stand up to that."

"It didn't.' The Kazekage said with an even tone, very impressed with Naruto's skill with wind jutsu.

"What do you mean?" Temari asked weakly with in her cocoon. Normally she would be dead by now, but it seemed that Gaara did care for his sister somewhat.

"Look." The man said and both siblings paled.

The sphere of sand was no longer there. The hardened pieces were all over the place and they were quickly dissolving. In the middle of the impact zone, Gaara lay on his back and anyone could clearly see that he had multiple gashes along his person.

"Oh…shit." Kankuro said with fear. No one had ever gotten past Gaara's second defense, which was his sand armor, and now this kid comes out of nowhere and makes his brother bleed! It was amazing and scary at the same time.

Temari looked on in fear, hoping he was ok.

"Ok…he pulls out the ultimate ass poke and now he has another new wind jutsu that completely shreds everything in it….sure, that makes sense." Guren shrugged.

"It was kind of funny though." Haku replied, getting a roll of the eyes from his friend.

However, Zabuza didn't say anything. This fight was something else and those moves interested him._ A true battle genius indeed._

XXX

"What is this feeling mother….this hurts worse than those punches and kicks. There is also this warm feeling…what is it?" Gaara asked aloud to the beast with in. He raised one of his aching arms and saw a horrific site to him. He was actually all cut up and was bleeding!

…

…

"BLOOD! MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed in horror as the surrounding sand exploded all around him.

Naruto actually fell on his ass as the column of sand rose up. It was so unexpected to him that he didn't know what to think.

Soon, the column of sand began to take shape. It was the shape of the One Tailed Demon, Shukaku. "Oh….craptastic."

"I WILL NOT LET YOU ERASE MY EXISTENCE, NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Gaara shouted in panic before he let the demon take over for him. Yeah, he was that desperate.

"FINALLY! I AM FREE!" Shukaku yelled in delight before his massive head turned sharply to Naruto. "HEH! AND NOW I HAVE THE FIRST PERSON I WANT TO KILL IN MY SIGHTS! GOODBYE, KYUUBI!"

"Not going to happen." Naruto said aloud as he took out his scythe and ran up the beast's fore-arm as it reached for him. "**Fire Style: Death's Fiery Touch!"** The blade of the scythe was immediately set blaze as he channeled the fire chakra through it. However, due to the scythe's connection to death, the fire was not just red, it was black as well.

Naruto then stabbed the fiery blade into Shukaku's forearm as he ran up, carving a fiery path as he ran. The effect was instant because it was super-heated, the path and all the sand around it turned to glass. However, Shukaku didn't seem all that bothered by it as he used his other hand to grab the smaller blond and chucked him away.

XXX

"Oh that's not good. " Haku said as he saw the Sand Demon throw Naruto pretty hard and far.

"This fight is far from over." Zabuza replied, catching everyone's attention.

"Are you nuts man?" Kankuro shouted. "I doubt anyone can survive that!"

"There is one jutsu that I know he made and it is the perfect time to use it? Zabuza replied, "He asked me one day if I had ever seen any of the Fourth Hokage's signature attacks. I said no, but I knew someone who ventured out of the village one day and saw both attacks being used. I told him about it and I have a feeling I know what he did."

That seemed to confuse everyone but the Kazekage and he looked on in excitement. If anyone could derive a jutsu just from hearing about an original one, then they were a true genius in his books.

XXX

As Naruto was flying through the air, Naruto barely managed to make any hand signs at the speed he was going, but he made it just in time. Thinking of the jutsu he had wanted to try for a long time, he shouted, "**Rasen Engo!**"

Before Naruto hit the ground hard, he was surrounded in a fairly large sphere of spiraling pure chakra. The sphere hit the ground and split the sand all around it and as far as anyone could see, Naruto was just fine.

Shukaku growled at that. "WHY WON"T YOU DIE! **Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!**"

"Oh shit." Naruto said, knowing his Spiraling Protection was not yet strong enough to take an attack of that magnitude! Everything went in slow motion for the blond. He saw the massive wind attack coming at him and desperately thought of a way to escape this since he also knew he was not fast enough to get away either.

Suddenly, he looked at his scythe, the blade more specifically. There lay strange symbols that made him think it might work.

_Flashback!_

"Sensei, there are some strange symbols on the scythe blade. Any clue what they mean?" Naruto asked as he showed Zabuza what he was talking about. He couldn't ask the Kyuubi at the moment because it was being an ass and sleeping.

Zabuza looked at the blade in careful detail while also not touching in the blade because only Naruto was allowed to do that. He recognized the symbols and said, "I had a friend once who was a summoner, so I am going to say that they are summoning symbols."

"Heh, I'll be back in an hour, I am going to try it." Naruto said before running off.

Zabuza had a deadpanned expression on his face. "Dumbass. He'll be back because he doesn't even know how to summon yet."

_End Flashback!_

Nodding to himself, he knew he had to summon something and he knew just what to summon. Quickly biting his thumb, he spread blood on the blade before slamming the handle of the weapon on the ground. "**Summoning Jutsu: Gluttony!"**

XXX

"Ok…what the hell is that?" Kankuro looked on annoyed and disgusted at the same time. For in front of everyone to see was a giant humanoid….monster. Naruto was on top of a giant…and fat guy that had its ribcage burst open with a giant eye in it.

"One of the Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony." Zabuza said. "Naruto has an odd summoning contract with that scythe of his. He is able to summon the God of Death and by that way, he is able to summon the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Virtues."

"Very odd." The Kazekage replied, not knowing what to think.

XXX

The large wind attack was easily eaten up by Gluttony. "Alright, it is time to take the Shukaku down and since you can basically eat any matter, eat him."

"Yeaaahhhh!" The large sin screamed in delight as they charged Shukaku.

"WHAT THE HELL!" the Sand Demon shouted as he saw that he was being EATEN! So he did the natural thing. Reformed from the surrounding sand and fought back. It was like watching a gruesome battle between two titans. Finally, Shukaku had enough and bashed the duo away. "FINE! I'LL USE THIS!" It managed a back flip, in which Naruto finally saw a sleeping Gaara on his head.

However, that is not what really caught his attention. The Shukaku had expelled a massive amount of chakra in the air, before it formed into a large ball, shrinking, and then Shukaku ate it. Now this had Naruto and a lot of people nervous. Naruto was not sure this was something Gluttony could take, but there was not time to do anything about it because the Sand Demon expelled the energy in a massive blast of energy.

"ONE TAILED BEAST BALL!" Shukaku screamed and the beam of energy shot out towards Naruto and Gluttony.

Naruto looked on calmly before sighing. "Absorb as much as you can Gluttony. Then you can go."

Gluttony didn't seem to mind. It seemed excited to eat something new. However, as the energy struck, he figured out why Naruto said what he did. Even if it was the weakest of the nine demons, that attack was powerful. The energy alone was making it sick and it groaned aloud once it was over. Taking Naruto's advice, it quickly got the hell out of there.

That just left Naruto and the Shukaku and it seemed the demon was still rearing to go….and it was excited that it 'killed' something already. **"Activated your death form." **Came Kyuubi's voice.

_I highly doubt that fighting that thing as the walking skeleton will help at all._ Naruto deadpanned.

"**While you do not have much control yet over that power, I will give you my power, creating something that the original Grim Reaper could do." **Kyuubi explained.

"Alright then." Naruto said aloud as he saw the Shukaku get ready to attack him again. He went skeleton, making the giant sand demon laugh a bit before he saw what happened next. Everyone felt the power of the Kyuubi enter the fight, but not in the form it took. Naruto was covered in the initial chakra cloak of the Kyuubi, but it looked more like pure fire than anything else.

So basically a walking skeleton that was on fire….in the desert. Normally this would not be a power boost, but Naruto actually felt powerful. "Well, this is new." Naruto said in a raspy voice before he used that power boost to quickly move out of the way of the beast's second Drilling Air Bullet.

"Nice…very nice." Naruto stated. He then brought his scythe up in another attack. "**Fire Style: Hell's Punishment!"** He brought down the scythe into the sand and surprisingly created a fissure in the earth, where it looked like the fire and brimstone of hell was breaking free. And it was, as thousands of burning hands shot out and latched onto the Shukaku's form.

However, what truly scared the demon was that it could not simply escape the burning limbs and reform. It was like they were latched onto its soul. "WHAT IS THIS!?" Shukaku screamed in fright, something the Kazekage noticed. "ARGH! IT BURNS! WHAT IS THIS!?"

"Not even a demon is safe from hell's judgement. A jutsu that Kyuubi taught me. A jutsu made by the first Grim Reaper Shinobi. You cannot move because they are latched onto your soul and are burning your very existence. However, it is not affecting your jailer, just you." Naruto explained as he calmly walked over to the shrinking and screaming sand demon. "Also with this jutsu, it will ensure that you cannot cause harm to Gaara anymore. Fear of the damned always bites back to those who have felt their touch."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Shukaku screamed as he was forcefully shoved back into Gaara, who woke up in time to see Naruto's flaming form walking towards him.

"No…stay away!" Gaara said as he fell on his ass in fright. "My existence won't be erased! I want to live!"

Naruto let go of both powers and went back to normal to give Gaara a sympathetic look. "Then live for real this time." That comment froze the sand user. "I know the pain. It sucks, but you have to find someone to let it ease away. Sure you will never forget it, but let someone be your light. I have already proved that my way is better than staying in the darkness and relying only on yourself. You still have family, Gaara. Don't throw that away."

"He is right Gaara. I still think of you as my son and I am sorry for the shit I put you through. I hold no value in it." The Kazekage said as he and the rest of the observers walked over to them, seeing that the battle was over. "I will try to be a better father and leader."

"That's good…." Naruto said, swaying on his feet. "Now if you don't mind, I am going to pass out now. I guess even a Jinchuriki can run out of steam once in a while."

"I got ya!" Haku said as he held up his friend. Naruto smiled before falling asleep. Zabuza just smiled proudly at his student.

XXX

A few days later, the small group could be seen at the gates of the Sand Village. The Kazekage and his children were personally seeing them off.

"It is too bad none of you can stay." The Kage stated, "We could use some powerful shinobi."

"I still have to train these brats some more and I have my own problems to deal with. It would not feel right bringing your village into it." Zabuza replied good naturedly.

"I see." The man replied. "Well, I have news for you all and some news for my own village. Naruto, I received word that without you in Konoha, problems have arisen. People are saying that it will be in a civil war like in Mist, but others feel that it will pass over soon."

"Oh shit." Naruto groaned. They must have spread the word of his true nature and heritage. It didn't matter though. He was not going back. Some people might be on his side, but he was not going to risk anything.

"So on that note, a lot of jobs have been coming in since then. You have saved our village in more than one way. If you ever need help, you have the backing of the Sand Village. Just so you know. Oh and here." The Kage replied on a happy note, giving him a scroll.

Naruto was shocked at that. He didn't really know what to feel. "Thank you." Naruto said with a bow before he took the scroll. He would look at it later.

Gaara then walked up to Naruto. "I will do as you say. I will open up more to this village and hope it accepts me even after all that I have done."\

"Gaara, to make it easier on you, in addition to your family, you already have one friend and that it me," Naruto replied with a big smiled as he held out his hand.

Gaara, shell shocked, numbly took the hand and they shook. "Thank you….and I will protect my precious people like you have."

"Aw what the hell. You got me as a friend as well." Guren replied with smirk. "You need to have some hot friends."

Haku smiled while rolling his eyes. "Oh yes, that is _so_ true. But seriously, I too will be your friend.

Gaara nodded in thanks.

Kankuro shook his head with a smile. "Well Naruto, if you are ever in town again…be sure to look me up. I am sure we can find another person to prank." He laughed at that until his sister whacked him upside the head.

She walked right in front of the blond and smiled. "I never got to properly thank you for…well…giving me back my little brother and my family." She leaned in and kissed him, tongue and all. When she pulled back, she laughed at his look. He looked like he caught the backlash of a bomb. "Next time you're out here, don't be a stranger and yes, I had fun on our date."

Since Naruto could only get out none coherent speech, Zabuza decided to speak for him. "Oh I am sure he will be more than delighted to see you again. Come on brats, let's get the hell out of this desert!"

Naruto just followed along with a shit eating grin and before long, Haku and Guren were messing with him.

The Kazekage, however, looked at the disappearing blond, then at his daughter and underneath his veil, he smiled.

Before long, Zabuza looked back at the village behind them and chuckled. "Man, just thirteen and you are already a lady killer."

"Huh? I don't want to kill women." Naruto replied and there was a collective sound of forehead slaps.

XXXX

**And that's the end of this arc. Hope you liked it and now we deal with the second arc.**


	5. Itachi's Rage

**Grim Reaper of Iwa.**

**Chapter 5**

_Somewhere is the Land of Rivers…_

"So….he recreated the attack as a defense?" An older voice asked. "And he did it only using the stories I told you to tell him about? Impressive."

"Barely. While he may have pulled it off to cushion the impact, he truly does not have the jutsu down. He has to learn the original to grasp the concept." Zabuza replied. "What he did was basically pulling off a weak Rotation that the Hyuugas use. If he had used it to defend against Shukaku's second Drilling Air bullet, his blood would have painted the sands."

"I see." The older voice replied

"Lord Jiriaya, I need help to teach him_ that _attack." Zabuza stated.

Jiriaya. Jiriaya of the Sannin. He was a man of many so called 'talents.' He was Konoha's top Spy Master. A talent that Sarutobi used to track down Naruto. However, Zabuza headed him off and Jiriaya honestly didn't want to fight Naruto's current protector.

No, that would be harsh and selfish. Sarutobi finally relented and told him what Naruto's life had been like and he understood why he left. He would have as well. But, as his godfather, who had done nothing for the boy all his life, he had no right to enter the boy's life now. So, he would settle for the shadows while doing his best to keep the Kiri Hunter nins off of Zabuza's trail.

Instead, he gave Zabuza jutsu for all his students and info about Naruto and Konoha in general. Currently, they were in the back of a bar while Zabuza's students were enjoying the local festival of the village they were in.

"I gave you scrolls on Ice and Crystal Jutsu for Haku and Guren, now you need jutsu for Naruto. True jutsu, not the simple crap I have been providing you with." Jiriaya sadly laughed at that. "You know, I was going to teach the boy when he was ready, but that is out of the window now."

"Would you have told him the truth about you?"

"No. I do not hold that right anymore, I gave that up when I never even visited him while I was in town." Jiriaya replied sadly as he took out a few scrolls. "If I had taught him, he would have already been a Toad Summoner, like his father. Again, that is out of the window with the Death Contract. The Toad Clan…hell any summoning clan is deathly afraid of that contract. It is not natural after all."

"I agree, but it saved his life against the Shukaku."

"Indeed." Jiriaya replied. "I am not even sure he could learn the Flying Thunder God jutsu, but here is that….just in case. Here is a scroll on the Rasengan. You also mentioned he want to try and combine elements to recreate bloodline jutsu. Here are Minato's notes on that along with Space/Time Jutsu…not even sure he will be able to use that."

"Was there anyone that could recreate bloodline jutsu?"

"Yes…that is where Space/Time Jutsu comes from believe it or not. The Second Hokage brought it out in the open and Minato showed the world what he could do with it." Jiriaya replied in all seriousness.

"I see. Naruto will have a tough time ahead of him if he wishes to do any of that."

"True. Now…I must go, I have taken up enough of you time and as always, I will tell Sarutobi sensei that I have not located you yet." Jiriaya replied.

"Thank you." Zabuza said as they shook hands and left the bar.

XXX

Two men in black cloaks with red cloud and large straw hats walked down a road in River Country. The same country that held the village where Naruto and company where.

"Hmm, remind me again why we are going out this way." The taller of the two complained. "Leader wants us to collect more money for the organization."

"I simply want to test the boy." The shorter of the two replied in a monotone.

"Oh bullshit, Itachi. Sure you may want to test him, but also to screw with him because he left Konoha."

"In way, yes Kisame." Itachi replied. "He left my village and now it is on the verge of a civil war, leaving my little brother at risk of being taken by Danzo."

"Yikes. And I thought Kiri was messed up, but whatever. I just want to fight Zabuza to see how he has changed." Kisame replied. "Still, that crap in Konoha is making my blood boil! One half of Konoha cares not for the little jinchuriki, thinking his is the demon while the other half is trying to repent with their kids for harming the hero of Konoha and their greatest Hokage and a badass swordswoman."

"Do all the Swordsmen of the Mist think that?" Itachi asked nonchalantly as they walked.

"Yeah and Zabuza was saved by her, so he probably thinks he is doing her a favor by taking care of her kid. The guy was always a softie for kids I guess."

"Hn." Itachi replied before they vanished from the road.

XXX

"SCORE!" Naruto shouted as he used his throwing skills to pop all the balloons in a game booth he and his teammates were currently playing at.

"Very good Naruto. Now only if you could use those skills against a horde of bandits." Haku replied with a sly smile.

"Oh screw off Haku!" Naruto growled as he took the big prize and then put it in his prize scroll.

"Knock it off you two!" Haku's girlfriend, Guren, replied in annoyance. "I swear, I need more girl friends. You two act like brothers so much it is infuriating sometime."

"Sorry Guren." The boy replied in unison.

Soon, however, they all just laughed it off and decided to go on some rides instead of just stick to games. The first ride they went on, Naruto choose the bumper car ride, where he laughed hysterically while bumping into everyone, much to Guren's annoyance.

There was a spinning tea cup ride that Guren thought was nice. Unfortunately, she didn't know how sick she would get on that ride. Apparently she had a form of motion sickness. It sucked even worse for some innocent bystanders, which made Naruto laugh his ass off while Haku apologized for his girlfriend.

Haku…well, he decided to feed the ducks in a nearby pond. He did not any repeat performances.

Soon, they were walking toward the rendezvous point to meet up with their teacher, Zabuza. He had to meet a contact of his, who usually kept them informed of the world's events and occasionally provided Zabuza with means to train them in jutsu.

As they were waiting, Naruto got bored and took a look at their surroundings. He often did this to make sure any Konoha ninja were not following him. But like usual, they weren't. However, he did see _something_. Up on a rooftop, there were two men staring down at him. Both wore strange black cloaks with red clouds on them. One of them did not have his large straw hat on his head.

_Sasuke?_ He thought as a reflex. No, this 'Sasuke' was older….unless his old teammate had a rather strange growth spurt and had grown older in the last few months, then he highly doubted that was Sasuke. If not…then who was this?

"Hey brats, I got what we needed, let's go." Zabuza's voice brought him out of his trance of his stare off with the Sasuke look alike. Naruto nodded slowly before he followed them, albeit with less energy than usual. Something they all noticed, but would not ask about in a place like this.

XXX

"Oh…he saw us." Kisame chuckled.

"That was the intention." Itachi replied.

"You know, I am surprises he didn't say anything…or that Zabuza didn't even sense his old…friend."

"Hn." Itachi replied, not really caring. He wanted to mess with the kid, see if he remembered him at all.

XXX

As they walked through the busy streets to their hotel for the night, thanks to Zabuza's benefactor, Naruto swore he was either tripping, in a genjutsu, or they, more specifically, him was being followed by the Sasuke look alike.

Everywhere they went, he swore he saw the man, standing in crowds, staring at him. Or he was on the roof tops, walking in step with him. What really tipped him off to being in a Genjutsu was at one point, the same man was in the crowd, but in familiar Konoha armor and it was one of his old protectors before is disappeared. However, the way he disappeared was via…Crows. And no one noticed.

"Weasal…Itachi." Naruto murmured. However, it came out differently to those who not in the Gentjutsu. His team just heard him say the man's name from the boy in a drone of voice. That chilled the bones of even Zabuza. Why, because when he looked at Naruto's eyes, they were devoid of any emotion or even notice that the man as looking at him.

"Oh…shit." Zabuza replied, seeing that Naruto was in a genjutsu and the boy knew who did it to him. The man not even he wanted to run into if the stories were true. The man, who killed off the entire Uchiha Clan except for his little brother.

Thinking quickly he dispelled the illusion over the boy, making him blink. Naruto looked up at Zabuza and nodded, confirming the man's fears.

Itachi Uchiha was in town.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Itachi's voice said calmly. The group looked to see he was in their path and that his partner was behind them, blocking their way back the way they came.

"Itachi….what do you want?" Naruto asked, the atmosphere getting tense and the crowds were starting to take notice.

Haku and Guren froze up at that. They heard the stories about this guy and they really didn't want to get in a fight with him….even though they had gotten stronger. They could not beat him alone.

"I need you to come with me." Itachi replied calmly.

"Not going to happen Itachi." Zabuza said as he stood in front of the blond and reached for his giant sword. "I heard what organization you are from. Akatsuki are hunting the Jinchuriki for some reason. I wouldn't let you take Kushina's son!"

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction at that. He was not aware that Naruto, nor any of his traveling companions knew of Naruto mother. "Then I shall take the Kyuubi by force."

Zabuza was about to block whatever Itachi was about to hit him with, but he had to use his sword to block the other man's sword. His eyes widened because he recognized it. "Kisame."

"HEY ZUBBY! I'M BACK!" Kisame screamed out in laughter before they took to the rooftop to perform their dance of death.

XXX

Back with Itachi and Naruto's teammates, they were freaking out. "I don't have the power to kick his ass!" Guren freaked silently. By now, most of the crowd had run away after seeing the two swordsmen go at it. They did not want to get in the way of a shinobi battle. They tended to get destructive.

"We can take him." Naruto growled.

"How do you think that?" Haku asked.

"We do this together!" Naruto said as he took out his scythe.

"Ah, the famed Death Scythe. I get to see it in this life time. I am honored." Itachi replied.

"I doubt that." Naruto snapped. "Just one question before we do this. Why? You were my protector as a kid, then you go and kill off your entire family and you are now hunting me. What's the reason behind all this?"

"To simply test myself." Itachi replied, infuriating the blond. "And the Leader needs what is inside you." He ended that by getting in Naruto's face before flicking him away, shocking both his teammates.

Haku glared at Itachi for that. "You won't get my brother!" He nodded to Guren and they went through several handsigns.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. "Ah, bloodline jutsu."

"**Ice Style: Frozen Tundra!"**

"**Crystal Style: Growing Crystal Thorns!"**

Their collaboration jutsu froze the landscape they were in and all the buildings grew pink crystals that ended in multiple, sharp at a blade, spikes. What was even more dangerous was that they were interlocking, creating a death trap field.

_Impressive_ Itachi thought. He knew how dangerous this was getting, but so far, Naruto had not impressed him. It was teammates that did that. So he coated his feet in chakra to safely land on one of the spikes that seemed to still be growing.

Haku noticed that Naruto was nearby and was waiting for the right time to attack. He threw Guren a look and she smiled. It was time for a TEAM collaboration. Time to use Naruto's specialty.

"**Ice Style: Ice Spears!"**

"**Crystal Style: Crystal Spears!"**

"**Shadow Spears!"** The five or so of each type of spear multiplied into about a hundred and rained down on a calm looking Itachi. However, they didn't shatter when they struck down on the ground. They fused with the surrounding elements, making the battle field that much more dangerous.

They knew it could not be that easy to beat Itachi. That proved true when his speared form disappeared into a poof of smoke. "You will have to do better than that."

"Then try this!" Naruto shouted as they all jumped him. Naruto has his Scythe glowing the red hot with his **Death's Fiery Touch** jutsu, Haku has his **Mirror Claws **at the ready, and Guren had her **Crystal Lance** at the ready to punch a hole through the Uchiha. However, as they all converged on him, he disappeared in a murder of crows.

"You have improved from what I heard, Naruto-kun, but not even this teamwork will get to me." Itachi's voice taunted. "Why didn't you stay in Konoha, where you were safe from people like me?"

"I wasn't even safe in Konoha, you of all people should know that!" Naruto growled. "They would never accept me and even if word got out while I was there that I was _their_ son, they would kill me on the spot for being a liar. They see nothing but pain and loss when they see me. So it is better if was not there at all."

"And the impending civil war?"

"I would have happened eventually." Naruto said in a depressed tone.

"I am…disappointed." Itachi's voice stated, which shocked Naruto because he could tell the older boy was disappointed in him!

"Why?"

"I thought you wanted to be the Hokage and MAKE them respect you. Such a shame." Itachi replied, but Naruto didn't believe it for one second. The older ninja was hiding something.

"That's not the real reason you are asking…" Naruto stated. Understanding something. The reason the man spared his little brother. "You wanted me back in Konoha to give Sasuke an Anchor of sorts. You wanted me to keep him in line and a way back for when he has his revenge against you."

Itachi…was very impressed at that. It would seem that with these people, Naruto had gotten more insightful. "Then you know that you are no longer of any use to my plans." Itachi said as he appeared on a rooftop not far from them. Naruto saw the rapid hand movement and cursed inwardly, already knowing the attack because Sasuke used it.

"**Fire Style: Great Fireball."** Itachi stated as he expelled a giant fireball that was rapidly moving towards them.

Naruto saw that his teammates were frozen in shock at the large and powerful attack coming right towards them. None of them were skilled enough to block that or truly dodge it. Haku's ice could probably not even stand up to that. With its rapid decent unto them, Naruto did the only logical thing he thought of. Pushing chakra to his arms, he pushed Haku and Guren out of the way. As they went flying in either direction, Naruto did his best to get out of the way. However, It caught his right arm….well more like singed it.

"ARGH!" Naruto screamed as he held his severely burnt and bleeding arm.

"I am impressed that you managed to pull that off in the little time I gave you. Perhaps you are not a lost cause." Itachi said as he calmly walked over to Naruto.

Having had enough of this battle, Naruto looked to Guren and Haku to see if they were ok. They were, but they were also a little beat up. Naruto knew, even together they stood no chance against this man. He was just too powerful. He arm was proof of that.

So, in a last ditch effort to get out of this alive, Naruto waited until Itachi was right in front of him. He knew this probably would not work, but he had to try. With a face full of pain, Naruto removed the Claws of Hades from his waist and with skills taught by Zabuza, even if they were a little rough, he sunk them into the Itachi's chest.

Itachi had seen this coming. How could he not with his Sharingan eyes active? He was testing the boy after all. Testing his resolve. He still believed that Naruto would be Sasuke's Anchor. His Light.

He was right to still believe in the blond, that is why he sent in a Shadow Clone to take the hit. However, he was not prepared for the supernatural affect that the Claws of Hades provided. For when the Claws sunk in, he himself felt the piecing bite. Sure the clone felt it too, but it did not dispel.

It just stood there in shock and absolute pain. A pain they both felt and now fear because Itachi had a feeling he knew what this was. Those claws, the Claws of Hades, did not merely attack the flesh, it also attacked the soul of the victim. Not the for the first time in his life, but rarely now so in years, he was afraid.

But his major question was, how was it affecting him as well and not just the clone.

Then it hit him. He remembered the description of the Shadow Clone Jutsu when he was given permission from his father to learn it. The Shadow Clone Jutsu evenly splits not only the chakra of the user, but the soul as well.

Where Naruto had gotten this soul harming weapon, he would never know.

Naruto grimaced as he pulled with all his weaken might and just like that, the piece of Itachi's soul was pulled out of the clone, but it did not stop there. It went INTO Naruto himself!

So…this is what it felt like to die. Itachi felt part of him die the moment he felt part of his soul was truly gone.

In that moment, Itachi actually felt immense anger. If he was too die for real, it would be by his brother's hand, he owned him that much. But for Naruto himself to do it, that was not on his agenda! For a moment, forgetting all that he came here to do, he charged the blond in anger.

A nearby sound came and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zabuza come flying into a building. That did register in his mind as something wrong, because a moment later, Kisame was sent into another building. However, he continued on, not really caring at all.

He took out a hidden blade from within his cloak, a blade he used from within the ANBU, and struck Naruto down. More specifically, he sliced off Naruto's right arm, the one he burnt to a crisp.

"The right to kill me does not belong to you!" Itachi spat before he noticed what he did and calmed down. Although inside, he panicked. How was the blond supposed to help his brother now? How was he supposed to defend himself against the Akatsuki?

Finally he came up with an answer. Nodding to himself, his Sharingan eyes took on a new form. The form of a three pointed shuriken. His Mangekyo Sharingan. "**Tsukuyomi**."

A few seconds later, he let go just as someone entered the scene. He bleeding eyes widened at the sight and he knew he had to flee. Quickly moving over to Kisame's recovering form, he hastily said, 'Now is the time to flee."

Kisame warily looked at his and Zabuza's attacker and groaned. "Yeah, one hit is enough for the moment."

With that, the two Akatsuki member disappeared from the scene.

"JUST WHAT HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" A woman's angry voice shouted out. "ONE PART OF THE CITY IS FLOODED ALL TO HELL AND THIS ONE HAS ICE AND CRYSTAL ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

Zabuza blinked away his shock. Not from the woman who entered the scene, but from Naruto's severed arm. Then he looked to the woman and knew why the Akatsuki members had left. Jiriaya the Toad Master being in town was bad for them, but for Tsunade the Slug Princess to there as well. Well, Itachi must have known he could not have taken them on when they both came at him.

Yes, Tsunade of the Sannin was in town, along with her apprentice Shizune, and pet pig, Tonton, and they did not look happy.

Not at all.

"Just my luck." Zabuza stated outloud.

XXX

**Heh, i have a plan for all this. Don't worry. Naruto will be getting something better than a replacement arm. And i had to put Jiriaya and Tsunade in the story some how. Deal with it.**

**Review!**


	6. Itachi's Truth

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 6**

Zabuza rushed to Naruto's side despite the fuming Sennin a few feet away. Haku and Guren rushed over as well. "You fool! Why did you do that?" Guren shouted. She really didn't care that some angry woman was bitching at all of them.

Despite his recent fog from the **Tsukuyomi **that Itachi forced on him, he weakly smiled at his teammates. "That's what teammates do."

"Idiot." Haku replied while trying not cry. He then used a ripped piece of clothing to cut off the blood flow to Naruto's severed arm. That made the blond cry out in pain, catching Tsunade's attention.

"What the hell? What is going-" She stopped dead in her tracks. Before she was angry that she was being ignored by these people, but she soon found out why. The blond kid, who looked familiar to her, was badly injured. However, when she saw the extent of the boy's injuries, she stopped, frozen, in her tracks. Her fear of blood over powering her.

Shizune saw this and inwardly scowled. However, she went to the young boy and helped him herself. To her surprise, the wound was closing, albeit slowly, itself. Shaking the strange thoughts away in her head, she looked at the blond and smile. "Hello, my name is Shizune. What's yours?"

Naruto knew what she was doing. She was trying to keep his mind off the pain and the eventual grief of losing a limb. So, he smiled weakly and said, "Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

Shizune froze at that. She knew that name! That was the name of the Jinchuriki of Konoha. Now that explained why the wound was closing up on its own. It also confirmed the rumors that were flying around that she heard. The boy left Konoha and was the cause of unrest in her old home. Now, she did not hate him for that. As far as she was concerned, the civil war surrounding him was a long time coming.

Sure, she heard about the rumors and took them to heart, but when she tried to tell Tsunade about the boy and Konoha in general, the woman just waved it off, saying she did not care. How could she not care about someone that was related to her!?

"Nice to meet you Naruto. Now I am going to do my best to help you out here." She then turned to the feminine looking boy and smiled. "It would seem that you have some medical skills. I want you watch what I do and help me." Haku just nodded dumbly as he watched her work.

While that was going on, Naruto was looking at the woman that was traveling with Shizune. He absently knew who she was. How could he not? After the display of power he saw in the last few seconds that Itachi attacked him, he saw her punch Zabuza and his opponent into a few buildings.

This woman was Tsunade of the Sannin. Someone he actually learned about in the academy when he paid attention. She was the Granddaughter of the First Hokage. If that was true, then she was also the Granddaughter of the Mito Uzumaki, the first Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. Also, she was part of his family, a fellow clansmen.

And with her not being there for his family or even stepping in to help him, that just pissed him off. So….he exploded.

"The hell are you just standing there Granny?" Naruto growled, rolling through the sudden jerk of pain. Zabuza listened in on this with shock. He didn't know the kid had the balls to yell at a ninja far stronger than him. Yeah, he was just going to sit there and listen. No way was he getting in on this.

Shizune froze in shock when she heard Naruto, but this speech that she felt was coming, was a long time coming. So she calmly did her work while rooting for Naruto.

Despite her fear of blood, Tsunade sent a menacing glare Naruto's way, to which he just ignored. "What did you call me, brat?"

"You heard me!" Naruto shouted in rage. "I heard about you from the academy lessons back in Konoha. You were a great ninja, one of the Sannin! The frickin' Princess of Konoha! And you left, never to return! They never really mentioned why, so I asked the Old Man. He said, you lost people close to your heart, like your brother and lover."

"Shut up." Tsunade snapped, not wanting to hear this.

"No! So you closed your heart partially, and left Konoha with this nice lady" Naruto continued, gesturing to Shizune, who was smiling softly. "You may have lost some of your family to wars and fighting in general, but to blame Konoha for you misery, that is just stupid." He paused there, he might be a hypocrite for doing the same, but he had a good reason…right?

"You had people there willing to help you get through your pain. You had the old man, who looked at you like a daughter and other friends. Your teammates, Jiriaya and Orochimaru, the latter of whom went nuts and is now dead, but you still had them. Then there is you family, you may have lost a lot of them I understand that, but you still had them. Your grandmother was Mito Uzumaki, the Wife of the First Hokage and the First Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. So that means you are an Uzumaki, like my mother. Kushina Uzumaki, the Second Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

By this point, Tsunade could not take it. She was on her hands and knees, silently crying as she listened to his sharp and truthful words. She knew he was right. She had been a fool. This boy, who reminded her of her little brother, was right. She had been selfish.

"Then there is me, Naruto Uzumaki, the Third Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. The Pariah of Konoha. The demon spawn. I was and probably still am hated by most of that village. I was alone, wondering if I even had any family. If anyone even cared for me. The Old Man would not tell who my parents were, probably to protect me from their enemies.

"Only recently did I figure out who they were. My Father, the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash and Hero of Konoha. Minato Namikaze. My Mother, the Hot Blooded Habanero, Kushina Uzuamki. It was then I knew why Konoha hated me more than I thought. I not only have the beast that killed thousands inside me, but I also look like my father. I am nothing but I reminder to their pain."

There was silence for a few seconds. Guren didn't know what to think. Sure, she was hated for being different in her village, much like Haku, but it seemed that Naruto had it worse. She was just glad that she and Haku were there for him.

"However, I only had Old Man Hokage and the Ichiraku's to keep me from darkness. I had no family." Naruto said. "If you had gotten over the past, which I admit is hard, then I might have had some family. I am sure there were others like me out there. If I find them, I will make sure their pain is gone."

Tsunade, having heard enough, calmly walked over to the blond, Shizune quickly getting out of the way. She hands glowed as he touched the spot where his arm used to be. She knew that the burnt arm was not going to be reattached anytime soon. When she was done with what she wanted, she stopped and gently kissed his forehead. "I am sorry and you are right." She paused for a moment and then said, "I made it so that if you want, you can use a prosthetic arm."

Zabuza, by now having gotten over his shock, said with a thoughtful look. "That won't be necessary."

"What do you mean sensei?" Haku asked, a bit angry that Zabuza was just going to abandon Naruto.

"I have an old friend in Iron Country that owes me a favor and with their technology, I am sure we can give Naruto something better than a plastic arm." Zabuza replied.

"Oh." Haku said with a blink, making Guren chuckle.

"So, on to Iron Country then?" She asked.

"On to Iron Country." Zabuza confirmed.

"Wait." Tsunade ordered.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I am coming with you. I want to get to know a part of my family before I set out again and I want to help them with your am." The legendary medic replied. "So, I won't always be there, so I might help Haku with his medical training."

Haku's eyes widened by that. He was going to get medical training from a legend? Badass!

"Very well." Zabuza said as he took Naruto on his back and they set off.

However, what he and his students really wanted to know, was what happened with in the Tsukuyomi.

XXX

"Ugh, it will be a while before we reach Iron Country." Zabuza stated as they took a rest in a clearing near Earth Country. They actually had to go through Earth Country to get to Iron Country. That was either going to be a good trip, or a horrible one.

Tsunade, while setting Naruto down by a rock, saw Zabuza's apprehension. "You need not worry of Iwagakure."

"What do you mean?" Haku asked. He knew that the Hidden Village of Stone probably still hated the Fourth Hokage and most likely Naruto as well.

"I was there a few years ago." Tsunade replied, shocking the group. "They had a small plague and I had to get rid of it. There I learned that most of the Fourth Hokage haters were either dead or have become missing ninja. Onoki and most of the village don't care anymore. They knew war was going to take a lot of lives and those who died have paid that price. Now, Onoki does respect power and he knew that if the 4th ever had a kid, they would be powerful and he would not be against having a ninja like that."

"Wow." Naruto said weakly. He had lost a lot of blood due to having lost an arm and was weak.

Zabuza stared at Naruto with a serious look. Now was the time to ask Naruto about what Itachi did to him. Even though the boy was in a weakened state, he had to know.

"Naruto, what did Itachi do to you in the Tsukuyomi?" he said out right, alerting both Tsunade and Shizune.

"Oh right. After Itachi cut off your arm, he called out a strange attack. The Tsukuyomi or whatever." Guren said.

Naruto sighed. He knew they were going to ask sometime. Looks like that time was now. "Nothing harmful. He just told me the truth."

"The truth?" The group asked all at once.

"Can explain what you mean?" Shizune asked in concern and Naruto nodded.

_Flashback!_

"What the…." Naruto asked aloud as he looked around. After Itachi had uttered that single word, everything had gone dark, only to be replaced with the seal room. Only…it was not complete. The caged area was there and so was Kyuubi, but the sewer was long gone. In its place was the creepy landscape of the Tsukuyomi.

"Now we have time to truly talk, and I am sorry for over reacting and slicing off your arm." Itachi said as he appeared with in the ultimate genjutsu.

Naruto gave the older Uchiha a deadpanned look. "What do you really want Itachi?"

"To tell you the truth."

"The truth?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, about a great many things." Itachi stated before he looked at the Kyuubi. "Did you tell him about what prompted you to attack Konoha?"

If it could, the Kyuubi would have sweat dropped. **"Eh…not really. It must have slipped my mind."**

"I see."

"You know, I have wanted to know that." Naruto replied.

"Very well, I shall tell you." Itachi replied. "On the night of your birth, a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha, a man who is supposed to be dead, attacked. Through subterfuge, he managed to release Kyuubi from your mother and take control of him. You know the end result of that."

Naruto nodded to that as he glanced at the Kyuubi. It would seem that the Kyuubi was not good with mind control….or whatever that this Madara did to it.

"Now on to other happenings with in the village years later. Jiriaya of the Sannin contacted the Third Hokage about a group called the Akatsuki that are hunting the Jinchuriki…you. At that time, I was reporting about a possible coup from my own clan. They wanted to take over the village because they thought they were the rightful leaders of Konoha."

Naruto nodded to the man, telling him that he was still listening.

"I was a Konoha shinobi first and I did not like where this was going. Neither did the Elders and the Hokage. So, the four of them came up with a plan. The Uchiha needed to be put down. I was tasked with eliminating them all. However, during that night, I was confronted by the man claiming to be Madara. He took glee in the fact that the ones who betrayed him where dying, so he killed off most of the clan for me. However, while I was able to kill my parents, who understood why I was doing this, I could not kill my little brother. I loved him too much."

"So, I begged the Hokage to leave him be. He promised he would, but I felt that Danzo wanted Sasuke for his own means, that is where you came in to help him. However, there was still the matter of the Akatsuki, who only took in S-class criminals. So, while I kept Sasuke alive, I was branded a traitor and sent out on one last mission as the Spy within Akatsuki. I am doing this more for you than the Hokage. I also see you as my brother."

"Thanks?" Naruto asked…not really sure how to take that. Still this Madara was someone to look out for.

Itachi just smiled before it turned into a frown. "Now that you know that, I need to tell you who the members of Akatsuki are and the true leader. Now, I know you will not remember them very well, that is why I am implanting this info in your head as well as telling you. There is me, and my partner, Kisame Hoshigaki. As you have seen, we work in pairs."

"Alright," Naruto said, understand the importance of this conversation.

"Then there is the Zombie Brothers as most like to call them. Kakuzu and Hidan. They are very dangerous and can only be kills in certain ways." Itachi stated and Naruto got the feeling that he would not enjoy a battle with them. "Next we have Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara the Mad Bomber. Zetsu is an odd one and he works by himself. He has a strange bloodline that makes him look like a ventus fly trap and he is our spy master. Next we have Konan, an old student of Jiriaya, who was thought to be dead."

Jiriaya of the Sannin had more students other than his father? Well, that was news to him.

"Our 'Leader' calls himself Pain. However, that is not his true name. It is Nagato Uzumaki, another student of Jiriaya's thought to be dead. However, while powerful, he is left in a weakened state due to his power, which is the legendary Rinnegan. With that power, he has taken hold of his old friend's body, the only dead student of Jiriaya."

"Dang talk about messed up." Naruto grumbled.

"True." Itachi replied with a nod. "However, the true leader of Akatsuki is someone you already know of….the man who claims that he is Madara Uchiha."

"**So that is the reason they want the Jinchuriki….ergo, us Tailed Beasts. Great….Madara and his insanity again."** Kyuubi grumbled aloud.

"So how do we defend against this?" Naruto asked, not liking the odds. He knew he was not strong enough to fight these people. He could not even beat Itachi, his missing arm a testament to that.

"Gain alliances." Itachi replied. "Me and Kisame are your secret allies and from what I have heard, you have the backing of Suna."

"Oh right!" Naruto said with glee. "And the scroll from the Kazekage mentioned that he would help find the old bases of Orochimaru's Sound Village and then tell me when asked. If I could get them on my side that would be great."

"True, but that is a on the fence deal. I am truly not sure how the people there will take that." Itachi replied honestly. "So, do more good things while on the road and you will have your defense."

Naruto nodded then said, "What about Nagato. He is family, I think I should try and get him onto our side before it is too late."

Itachi shook his head. "The man has a serious god complex thanks to his power. If you try that…you would have to nearly kill him to wake him up."

"I see." Naruto replied before he waved it off. "We'll burn that bridge when we get there."

"Very well." Itachi stated as he walked up to the blond. "Now, I wish to discuss what you did when you took part of my soul."

Naruto looked sheepish at that. "Yeah…sorry about that. I honestly didn't know the Claws of Hades would do that. Kyuubi didn't mention that little tidbit." He glared at the fox.

The giant fox shrugged in a non-caring way. **"Sue me."**

Itachi chose to ignore the small fight. "It matters not, however, you now possess a part of my soul and in doing so, I think my powers as well."

The blond gave an intelligent answer. "Huh?"

"The Sharingan. Add chakra to your eyes. I want to confirm." Itachi ordered and Nauto did so.

The blond felt an itching in his eyes as the doujutsu activated, making Itachi nod. "It seems that I am correct." The Uchiha stated. He was troubled. If Naruto had the Sharingan, he would also have the Mangekyo Sharingan as well. He could go blind. He did not want that. He had already crippled the boy.

Thinking on it, an idea struck him. "I was going to give this to you later on in life, to protect you from Madara and if Sasuke gave into the darkness. Now I give it to you for protection against the harmful effects of my power." Itachi stated as he walked closer to the boy, both hands glowing with small orbs.

"With the Mangekyo, you will lose sight a little bit each time it is used. However, there is a way past that. It is called the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Yours will be different however. I will give you the Sharingan of my friend, Shisui and the Sharingan of a long dead Uchiha. Obito's Sharingan was nurtured by my clan after it was partially crushed. I am not sure how they got it to Mangekyo form, but all I know is that they were planning on using it for something bad during the failed coup." Itachi said as the eyes shifted into two crows and flew into Naruto's mouth, shocking the poor boy. For a moment, Itachi was able to see the eye's future form. An impressive seven sided shuriken with Kakashi's pinwheel interlocking with it.

"Ugh! That was nasty!" Naruto shouted, not really understanding as he tried to get the taste of feathers out of his mouth "Wait, how is this going to work in an illusion?"

Itachi smirked. "You are more perceptive than I thought. Let's just say this battle has been a cover for this." He paused and then said. "You will not be able to activate the final stage of the Sharingan for quite some time."

"What? WHY?" Naruto whined.

"Because I have locked it. This process is a dangerous one for a non-Uchiha, but since you are an Uzumaki and therefore a branch of the Senju, this will work. Know this, only when you see a precious person die and feel great sorrow and grief, will this power activate and I honestly hope that day never comes. So for now, I would get used to your new sharingan."

"Right." Naruto replied.

"Now, we must get back to the real world, where I have slipped a scroll in your pocket for if you ever do get that power." Itachi stated, making Naruto nodded and this disappear. While the Kyuubi and it's seal was disappearing, the fox swore he heard, "Protect Naruto, Kyuubi, not just from his enemies, but from the power of the Sharingan. You should know what I am talking about."

"**Very well."** The fox replied, it didn't like it, but having a Sharingan on it's side for once might do some good.

Itachi stayed there a minute long and sigh. "I may have created something powerful. Uzumaki/Senju and Uchiha….what can come from that."

_End Flashback….which was very long._

The group just stared at the blond in shock. While Zabuza was inwardly freaking out about the mentioned Akatsuki members, Guren was staring at Naruto in disbelief. "Bullshit, you don't have the Sharingan!"

"Well…it is possible since we do not know the power of the Claws of Hades. There is only one way to tell. Naruto, if you would."

The blond boy shrugged, not really caring if he had them or not. It was not like he was going to rely on a bloodline…right? Nah, he had jutsu and he was going to make some badass ones….just as soon as he got a new arm and got back into elemental training of course. "Alright then." Naruto said as he closed his eyes and channeled charka to them and felt the familiar itching. When he opened them, the group gasped. Itachi's Sharingan was now his.

Tsunade's hand glowed the medic green as she put her hand over Naruto's eyes and gasped. They were real! "Incredible! And you have retained you natural eye color. This is just amazing.

Naruto cut the flow and looked at them all in a deadpanned expression. "Great…now that that is over with…I am going to sleep for the night." The blond said as he drifted off on the rock he was on.

Tsunade and Zabuza looked at each other and nodded before walking a little ways off, ordering Shizune to keep an eye on things.

XXX

**Ok, hope you liked that little filler. Next chapter should be the last one for this arc. And in case you are wondering, because someone did ask this, so yes, eventually Naruto will be part of Iwa.  
**

**Review  
**


	7. We have the technology to rebuild him!

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 7**

**For those wondering, Tobi will be a lot different in my story, heh. So for those that think Tobi will not have the sharingan because Naruto has Obito's eye, think again. Also, I have a question. Should Tsunade join them when they go to Iwa? Naruto is basically her family and all. If not, and I can see why not, that is cool too. Also, since i am giving Haku, Tsunade's training, should he get her strength?  
**

**Also….now I have never seen the Blood Prison movie….or the one before that one….i stopped at Bonds, but Road to Ninja looks so damn CONFUSING!**

Tsunade took Zabuza aside and said, "With the Sharingan, he could become powerful, I just hope he uses it properly and does not get the Uchiha ego."

"That's after we can get him a new arm." Zabuza replied.

"Speaking of which, what are we going to do in Iron Country?" Tsunade asked, curious about what they were going to do for Naruto.

"I have a friend in that place who owes me a favor. Their technology is far more advanced than ours since we are more focused on our petty differences and are always at war. They, however, just protect their land and have great tech over there." Zabuza replied.

"Ok…who is the guy that will help us?" Tsunade asked.

Zabuza smirked as he came closer. "His name is…"

XXX

Shizune was happily chatting with Guren and Haku while Naruto snoozed on a rock when Tsunade shouted, "WHAT!?"

"Oh, I wonder what Tsunade-sama is upset about now." Shizune wondered aloud.

"Who knows, but I am sure she can get over it." Guren replied while waving it off.

"I am just surprised that shout didn't wake Naruto up." Haku replied.

"Well, he did get his arm sliced of in a battle with an S-class Ninja." Guren offered.

"Oh…right." Haku replied sadly. He was blaming himself for what happened. However, one look at the blond, and he shook his head. Honestly, Naruto would kick his ass for having thoughts like that. Naruto probably didn't have any regrets. So, with determination in his eyes as Zabuza and Tsunade came back, he said, "No more messing around. If Naruto has the power in him to save us, we need the power to save him when the time comes."

"If that's the case, I promise my training on the way to Iron Country will help a lot." Tsunade said with an evil grin as she cracked her knuckles. Haku gulped at that but nodded none the less.

Shizune saw the look on Guren's face as well and with the girl's knowledge on poisons and other things, maybe she could help as well. "Guren, I'll help train you as well."

"Sweet!" Guren said with a smirk.

Zabuza sat next his blond student and he could have sworn Naruto had a smile on his face as he slept. That made the feared swordsman smile underneath his bandages as well. Maybe…this was a good thing.

XXX

White.

Nothing but white.

God he already hated snow. Naruto eye twitched as he looked around. This was almost as bad a hospital! "Are we there yet?" Naruto asked as Zabuza was carrying him on his back. Sure, Naruto could use his legs, but at the moment, the blond was being an ass.

Zabuza grunted. "No."

Guren smiled as the blond had be asking that a lot. Sure it was annoying and it ticking Zabuza off but that was fun part.

"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked again.

"No!" Zabuza growled.

Yeah, it was just annoying, but she had an idea. With a devious smirk and wink to Haku, she said, "You know Naruto, you could ride me."

"HUH?" Naruto asked with a dumbfounded look while Haku and Zabuza smirked. Tsunade and Shizune look at each other with raised eyebrows, not used to how things work with this team.

"Yeah." Guren smirked. "My lovely back is available. I am sure you don't want to be on another man's back."

Naruto was left speechless as he jaw was dragging behind them. Zabuza looked to Guren, giving her a thankful look. The blue haired girl smiled cheerfully. She managed to shut Naruto up.

…

…

….Yeah, that did not last long though.

"Are we there yet?"

"YES!" Zabuza shouted as they entered a small snowy village. "We are finally here damnit!"

"Ok." Naruto said as he slid off of the Demon of the Mist's back. "No need to yell about it."

Zabuza growled to himself as he imagined strangling the one armed blond. Haku just shook his head as he patted the man on the shoulder. "Don't worry sensei, that's just Naruto."

"Yeah…I just hope this shuts him up." The swordsman replied. He then noticed that Haku was giving him deadpanned look. "Yeah…you're right, that will never happen."

"An interesting group you have brought to my village." A man said. The group looked to see a man that had long, grey hair, which almost reached down to his waist, with bandages wrapped around his head, probably for a battle scar or something like that. He had black eyes with distinct wrinkles underneath them, a grey goatee and moustache. All he wore was a simple purple kimono-like outfit and sandals.

"Mifune." Zabuza said politely with a bow.

"It has been too long old friend." The man known as Mifune replied with a polite tone. "May I ask what you are doing in these lands?"

Zabuza nodded and pointed to Naruto. "I have come to collect on an old favor you owe me. I need you to use you technology to give my student a new arm. He lost it in a fight with Itachi Uchiha."

"I see." Mifune stated as he calmly walked over to the blond and looked over the wound. He noticed that it was closed up properly and he could replace the arm easily enough. He looked towards Tsunade and nodded to himself. "I see you did a wondrous job, Tsunade. You have not lost you touch in the medical area."

Tsunade smiled at that and Mifune noticed something about the woman. She seemed happier than the last time he saw her, which was a very long time ago. This boy he was going to help seemed to be important to the group if they were willing to come all the way out here.

"I will require you're help on this, Tsunade. The new procedure that we developed needs more…safety than we can give out. It is a dangerous procedure that can kill a normal man, that is why none of us have done it."

Zabuza blinked. "Huh, he just needs an arm. What the hell do you plan on doing that could kill him?"

Mifune eyed the boy and saw more determination in him that most of his samurai. He knew who this boy was due to the whisker marks on his face. He knew without a doubt that he was to be the one they tested their new project on. So, instead of speaking to Zabuza, he spoke directly to Naruto. "Uzumaki-san, while we can rebuild you…more specifically your arm, we have seen that it has….side effects…some not good as it affects the bone structure to those that have it. I know what you are and with your permission, I wish to test something on you."

"Depends on what it is." Naruto replied, not liking being a test monkey.

"In addition to giving you a metal arm, I wish to test graphing the same metal on your bones. It will hurt you beyond imagination, but it will make you indestructible." Mifune replied in a calm tone.

"What the….what kind of metal are you going to use and how the hell are you going to be able to do that to him?" Tsunade asked in a heated tone.

"It is the same metal we use to make our blades. Adamantium and Chakra Metal." Mifune replied.

"The hell? No wonder your men are having problems, that shit it too heavy!" Tsunade ranted.

"I understand that, but this new procedure should help." Mifune contested.

Tsunade sighed, but looked to Naruto, it was his decision after all.

The blond boy was in a thoughtful pose. _What do you think, Kyuubi?"_

"**Well. It is dangerous and I will say there is a possibility that you will die due to the extreme pain. However, having that kind of metal on your bones will be good for you. The healing factor I have given you will be improved and think how badass you would look when you go death form."**

That was enough for the blond teen and smiled and said, "I'll do it!"

"Very well." Mifune said as he turned away and motioned them to follow. "We eat first and then do the procedure in the morning. We will need your help Tsunade."

"Right, I'll be there." Tsunade replied with a grim face. She was not going to let Naruto die from this.

Haku just wondered what was to come from all of this. Was his brother figure going to change or will he stay the same? Only time will tell.

XXX

Mifune was nice enough to let them sleep at his place. He seemed like a humble man, but the samurai of this land did not let him have a simple little house….as he said that he wanted. No it was a fairly large mansion.

He, however, made it a black and white coloring. He must have liked the simple life. So as soon as they made it inside, a girl around Naruto's age greeted them. She was a long white haired girl with part of it covering her left eye, which was an amber orange color. She wore a deep red kimono that was open to reveal a tank top that held in her rapidly growing bosom and a pair of short shorts that revealed very long legs. There was not a flaw on her and altogether, it made her very beautiful.

"Yo." Was her greeting.

Mifune smiled as he put his hands on the girl's shoulders. "This is my daughter, Misa."

Zabuza blinked at that. "Wow, I didn't know you have a kid."

Mifune looked at the man and said, "If you came here more often, then you would know." Zabuza nodded in consent at that. Mifune was an old friend and he hadn't seen the man since he met Haku. "Now, I will go make dinner. Please make yourselves at home."

Misa looked at all of them with a bored look before she smiled. "Well, you all know me, now why don't you tell me who you are."

Naruto smirked as he pointed a thumb at himself. "Name's Naruto Uzuamki! Remember it!"

"My name is Haku, it is very nice to meet you." The Ice User said politely.

"This hot chick right here is Guren." The Crystal User replied smugly as she did a once over the white haired girl. "But I must say, that I am getting a run for my money with you." She gave the white haired girl a wink that conveyed a message that she got as she smiled.

Misa looked to Tsunade and smiled challengingly. "I know who you are, Lady Tsunade. One day, I am going to test my metal against you one of these days."

"Why?" The aged medic asked.

"Simple. You are one of the strongest women in the ninja lands and the samurai here would not even go against you. I intend to be the first."

Tsunade gave her own challenging smirk. "You wish kid." Yeah, she already liked this girl. She had guts.

"I am Shizune." The polite woman said after a moment.

Misa smiled at the woman and then at the rest. She also knew Zabuza as she nodded to him. "I already like you people. Especially Guren here." Tsunade held back a laugh as she knew what was going to happen. She had learned that Guren was a major flirt. God, if Jiriaya were here, he would be in as much trouble as the boys were about to be.

"Oh? You like me too? I knew there was a...connection…we had." Guren said as she walked right up to the other girl, so that they were pressing up against each other. Naruto and Haku grew nervous at that. Was there a fight in the making or what?

"OH I am sure it is more of an attraction than a connection." Misa replied as their breasts pushed against one another. She then put an arm around the blue haired girl and then smashed her lips the Guren's.

No…no fight…just two chicks kissing each other in a very provocative why. Tsunade cut her eyes to Naruto and Haku and nearly laughed at their reaction. Their jaws were on the floor and even that did not last long as they were rocketed back from a nosebleed. Zabuza…didn't know what to do as they were way younger than him, so he turned his back and left….all the while wiping blood from his nose.

After a few seconds, the girls broke apart, looked at the state of the two boys and laughed their asses off. Girls could act perverted if they wanted, but if guys did it to other girls, than all hell breaks loose….yeah, that made sense.

Misa smiled and said, "So which one is your's"

"Haku, the girlie looking out. But in a sense, they are both mine." Guren replied with a cheesy smile. Misa knew what that meant. While Guren was with Haku, she considered Naruto to be her family.

"Well then, I'll just take blondie off your hand. Unless, you wanted to have some girl time….although to be honest, I not one for girlie shit."

"Well, that will have to wait for later. I have to train Guren some more." Shizune interject politely.

"If that is the case, I might as well train Haku some more." Tsunade said as she grabbed a hold of the girlie one's ankle and drug him out of the mansion, who was followed back Shizune and a giggling Guren.

Misa sighed at that. Well, it wasn't all bad. She still had the blond one with her. So she set him on the couch to wait for him to wake up. It would be nice getting to know a new friend.

XXX

Zabuza walking into the kitchen to see Mifune working on some stew. "An…interesting daughter you have."

Mifune smiled sadly at that. "She takes after her mother."

Zabuza chuckled at that. "Yeah, you always were one for the odd ones."

"You are one to talk. How is the auburn haired one that threatened to melt your ball off?" Mifune asked.

"I…I am not sure." Zabuza replied honeslty. "I have not been to the Mist lately. I fled like a coward after my attempt to kill the Mizukage. She probably hates me and has moved on."

"But you have not?" It was more of a statement than a question. Mifune looked to his old friend to see that there was still love in the man's eye for the one known at Mei. "At least not yet. I see you have an interest in the woman traveling with Tsunade."

Zabuza chuckled at that. "Maybe. She is a strong woman in her own right. Also, the more I think about my students, the less I want to bring them to the Mist. They are great kids and they don't need to see that horrible war."

"You are becoming less of the so called Demon." Mifune noted. "Just do what your heart desires and you will be happy."

Zabuza nodded at that. He also noticed how quick his old friend changed the subject of Misa's mother. He could only think something bad happened. "So…what happened to Misa's mother?"

Mifune stirred the pot of stew slowly with a sad look. "She was a strange and adventurous woman….but not even that could protect her from a rare illness. It killed her within a month after Misa's sixth birthday."

"Oh…I am sorry."

"Don't be…it was just her time." Mifune replied. He obviously didn't want pity.

After a while of helping the man in silence, Zabuza spoke up again. "I found the heir."

Mifune nodded sagely at that. "To your sword I would assume."

"Yes. My blade was never really meant for me, so I had Haku take hold of it and it an interesting reaction." Zabuza explained. "When something happens to me, he will get the blade."

"He seems like a stable young man. What was the reaction?"

"It turned to ice and there were silver winds whipping around it. It confirmed my suspicion that Haku also has the Swift Release."

"An interesting combination." Mifune deduced.

XXX

"Ugh, that was some perverted dream." Naruto mumbled as he awoke as he rubbing his eyes.

"Oh…that was no dream Blondie-kun."

"Huh?" Naruto shouted as he whipped his head around to see Misa sitting next to him with that coy smirk on her face. "Wait, that was real?"

"Yep, but we were just teasing you."

"Great. Here I thought I was a flirt." Naruto said before shrugging. "Meh, I just do harmless stuff though, like call girls like you extremely beautiful, but that scene was hot."

Misa smiled with a large blush on her cheeks. "Thank you. Now that all the fun is out of the way, why don't we get to know each other through a spar?" She said with a gleam in her eye.

Naruto looked at her for a moment and then smiled. "Well, if you think that you can keep up, I would be more than happy to spar with you. Just lead the way"

Raising an eyebrow at the blond, the girl smirked. "If you think I can keep up? Oh boy, it is you that will have to keep up. Just keep up in the right way."

She laughed at Naruto's blush as she walked to the dojo. Through her loose kimono, he saw that she was swaying her hips suggestively.

Yeah…he was in trouble.

XXXX

Later that night, Zabuza and Mifune noticed that Naruto and Misa were getting along very well at dinner. They joked, messed with each other, and punched each other in the shoulder. Zabuza only saw this with his teammates or someone Naruto had changed by either talking or fighting. He guessed it was a fight due to the bruise on the girl's cheek and the rapidly disappearing black eye the blond had. He just chuckled to himself. That kid was a strange one.

Mifune, however, was a different story. He saw a small, but significant change in his daughter. That 'hidden' look of sadness in her eyes had disappeared. He knew that her mother's death still affected her, but this boy seemed to have healed that old wound somewhat. She looked, happy with him. He liked that she was happy, but he was a father and wanted to scare the boy…..meh, he could do that later.

Haku and Guren smirked at each other when they saw this. In Guren's opinion, the blond was lady killer. First Temari now Misa? He worked fast! Haku saw it for what it really was though and he was thankful that his friend had that gift of his.

In truth, Misa did have a crush on the blond. He was great guy in her eyes. She just knew that he had to leave soon. So she did not make a move yet. Hell, Naruto was too nice despite his flirting, so she knew he would most likely not make the first move.

However, their fun ended too soon for her tastes as the meal ended and they had to head to bed early for tomorrow's event.

XXX

Right…like that was going to happen. Naruto was way too nervous for that. He just could not sleep. His mind was racing. Sure he felt immense pain before, but that was from being beaten up in the village, not from this!

He sat on the roof of the mansion and stared at the full moon in thought. It was all just too much to take in.

"Can't sleep?"

Naruto looked behind him to see Misa in her nightware. It was red night grown. It made her look very beautiful, especially in the moonlight. Despite his initial shock, he smiled. "Yeah, I am not sure this is going to work. Am I going to die?"

Misa sighed. She sat next to the blond and looked at him with a serious face. "Dad lied to you."

"Huh?"

"This procedure has been done before." Misa stated sadly.

"On who?"

"Me." Misa replied as she looked away sadly.

"Why?" Naruto asked as he tried looking at her, only to see tears running down her face.

Misa looked at Naruto before she leaned her head on his shoulder. "My mom died from a strange and rare illness. We thought it was gone, but it appeared in me a while ago….and Dad was freaking out. It was only thanks to my bloodline that I was able to stay alive for as long as I did."

"Oh? What kind was it?" Naruto asked, seeing a new side to the girl. It seemed that while she put on a strong and happy look, she was still hurting.

"Dad called it the Silver Heart Bloodline. Apparently it skipped mom. It gave me a regenerative power that can match a Jinichuriki's." She noticed he looked startled by that and flinched. However, she already knew what he was from her father, so she did not have a problem. "And it was thanks to that, that I survived so long, but it was nearing its end and dad was getting nervous. So, he set up the procedure you're about to undertake."

"W-what happened?"

"I died." She stated simply.

"WHAT!?" Naruto freaked.

"Yeah, but it did work. Despite all the horrible pain," Misa said while shivering at the horrible memory. Naruto noticed this and put an arm around her in hopes of shielding her from past pain. She smiled with a small blush in thanks. "Despite that, it restarted the regeneration ability, but I had to die in the process. But they did not do it with the metal you are going to get. They did it with pure silver."

"Wow, must have been horrible." Naruto whispered.

"It was, but there was a light to all of that." Misa replied, gaining the blond's full attention. "In addition to living, I also got to see my mom, one last time."

Naruto smile sadly at that, but noticed the girl's eyes. They were sad still. "You were close." It wasn't a question.

Misa nodded. "Yes." She cried. "Dad is awesome and all, but he could never replace mom, just like how she could never replace him. There are certain things you do with a certain parent that would just be weird for the other. My mom…she was the best thing in my world. I miss her…so much."

Naruto nodded quietly as she cried into his shoulder. It pained him to see this strong girl…no, woman, crying. "She'll never really be gone." Naruto said as he wiped her tears away. "She'll always be with you…in your heart. That's what the old man said about my parents and I believe him still."

Misa hiccupped/laughed as she gave Naruto a hug. He was right. Her love for her mother will never die and that was what she took to heart. She pulled away to look at the blond boy. They both looked at each other in the moonlight and it had a powerful effect on them. As they stared into each other's eyes, they came together again, but this time in a passionate kiss.

She reluctantly broke it after a while and stared at him with a smile. "My mother gave me a mission, to find someone that makes me happy."

Naruto was speechless for a second before saying. "I….don't know when I'll even be back after this."

She knew he was being honest and punched in on the shoulder. "I know that. I just wanted you to know how I felt. You make me happy." She then kissed him again. When she pulled away again, she smirked. "Oh and if I can take the pain, so can you blondie!"

Naruto laughed at that. "I suppose you are right." He then stood up and helped her up as well. "Well, I better get some rest then."

"Yes, you should, Mister Grim Reaper." Misa replied before walking off with a seductive sway to her hips.

"Wow…" Was all the blond managed to get out of his mouth.

XXX

"Ugh…this is going to suck." Naruto mumbled aloud as he got in a tub of water. Yeah, instead of describing it this time, just go watch the Wolverine movie…same room and everything on how the room looks.

Mifune nodded to himself. "Yes, I know this will hurt unlike anything you have ever felt, but think of why you are doing this. Just keep to those thoughts and you will be fine."

"You know, somehow, that does not make me feel any better." Naruto replied as he eyed the drill like needless all around him. There was also a metal arm on the side. It seemed like they were going to attach that at the same time. "Um…anything I should know about the metal arm?"

"If you survive, I'll tell you all about it." Mifune replied as he walked away.

Naruto looked at the man with a gob smacked expression. "THAT DOESN'T HELP YOU KNOW!"

Mifune just kept on walking toward the upper level with a stoic expression on his face. Tsunade came up to him and said, "It seems legit. I hope for your sake that this works."

"I do too." Mifune stated as looked at all the others in the room. His second in command decided to come and make sure everything went alright. The man had some medical training and help Tsunade with the check over. His daughter, Misa, was there as well. He did not know if Misa had the same procedure to save her life, but in truth, it did not matter. Then there were the boy's teammates. They all looked nervous and fearful for the blond. Did he look like that when he did this to his daughter?

"We are ready, Mifune-sama." His second in command stated.

"Right." The samurai leader replied before turning to Naruto's position. "We are going to start now, just remember what I told you." Seeing the blond nod, he pushed the start button. With that, the platform Naruto was on lowered into the water. Thankfully they had put a rebreather on his face or this won't really work.

Then the drills started and came down on the blond, along for the one to create the hole for the new arm. Naruto felt them on impact and instantly regretted doing this as he writhed in agony.

Tsunade looked away from the younger blond, not wanting to see him in pain. Shizune did so as well, but hide her face in Zabuza's chest. Guren gripped the railing, watching with no emotion on her face. However, her mind was racing a mile a minute, hoping her little brother lived through this. Haku just watched on in sadness. He hated seeing his precious people in pain. And Zabuza himself just held on to the woman, letting her cry out the sadness for them both, for he was crying. He would admit that he had gotten soft, but these kids were his world now.

Naruto's mind was screaming just as his body was, but he was determined to take Mifune's words to heart. He thought about why he was doing this. He was doing it so that he could protect those he held close to his heart.

Zabuza-sensei, Haku, Guren, Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, The Kazekage, The Hokage, The Ichirakus, Mifune, and Misa. They and so many more were what he was doing this for.

While that was going on, Kyuubi was working overtime to make sure that Naruto, and by extension, himself, did not die. He growled to himself that he did not stop this from the start. But no, he was curious as to how this would go.

Soon, however, he remember that Chakra Metal was in the mix of this metal. Seeing the benefits of this, he forcefully drew out Naruto's Chakra, along with his own, to mix with the metal to make it stronger and to condition it to make sure it could handle the training that Naruto went through. Also, with a devious smirk, he added something else to make sure this new addition to Naruto was worth it.

As the procedure was nearing its end, both Naruto and the Kyuubi felt a pull towards death. They both knew this was going to happen thanks to Misa's story, but they were not prepared for what was on the other side.

XXX

The two opened to their eyes to see a room of pure white. So white it was almost blinding. Naruto looked around to see that he could see himself and the Kyuubi, who was standing next to him. What shocked him was that the Kyuubi looked younger than he last saw him. "What's going on?"

"**I am not sure, Kit, but I kind of expected there was nothing on the other side for us."**

"Now I would not say that, Kurama." A man's voice called out and they looked to their left to see someone they did NOT expect at all. It was the Sage of Six Paths.

"**Father?!"** The fox, now known as Kurama, shouted in disbelief.

The man just smiled. "Yes it has been a while." He said before turning to the blond. "So, you are my true heir. I must say that Fate chose right."

"Huh?"

The Sage chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, Child. I am sure you will know in time." Turned back to the fox, "Kurama, come, I wish to speak to you. Let Naruto speak to those that came for him." The fox nodded and walked away from the blond, but did look back and nearly growled.

Standing right behind Naruto, were none other than his mother and father. Minato and Kushina. One look at them, Naruto brought them in a tight hug as he cried.

XXX

An hour later in death time, the Sage and Naruto's parents had to go, but they were not done yet in this world. For another man was now standing before them. They could tell he was an Uzumaki due to the long red hair he sported. He didn't wear much, other than a long black cloak with the hood down so they could see his withered, but youthful face. The Kyuubi's eyes widened as he recognized this man. "**Shuuryou Uzumaki….the original Grim Reaper.**"

"That is correct old friend." The man replied with a sad smile. "You were there when I died."

"**What are you doing here?"**

"What? I can't see an old friend and the one who is my successor?" He joked with a smile but that soon died away to a serious expression. "I have come for that and more."

"What would that be?" Naruto asked.

"One is a warning. Some of our family have fallen." The man said before his look grew sad as he looked at Naruto. "I need you to find the spirit of my daughter. She has not passed on yet."

"Mito's spirit?" Naruto asked and that put a dark look on the old Reaper's face.

"Not, he older sister that died before Mito met Hashirama. I had three children and I know what happened to two of them, I just don't know what happened to Toki."

"I find her. I promise." Naruto said with a determined look.

"Good." The man said, a bit relieved. "Kurama, take care of him, he has a big destiny ahead of him."

"**I will.**"

"Good."

After that, the two felt another pull and knew they were being brought back to life. They said their goodbyes and faded away.

XXX

"NARUTO!"

XXXX

**And there were go. A bit longer than usual, but I wanted to get this out. So yeah, that's the end of that Arc. The next arc, the group will go on a few adventures, meet new people and after an event, go the Iwa. **

**Also, I please beg you guys. Please contact me about fanart for this story. **

**A question for you guys as well. Can anyone guess what gift Kurama gave Naruto?**

**REVIEW!**


	8. Treasure Hunt

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 8**

**So Tobi is Obito….whoopie. Anyway, that is not the case for my story. The reason I have not updated in a while is because of two things. One….I FINALLT GOT A CAR….for 500 bucks after the small repairs and gas mileage is not bad. It is a 1992 Chevy Corsica LT. Still wish we went newer…oh well. I was able to also by a PSVita with some of the extra money. Yay. **

**Also, I am not sure how popular these types of stories are, but I am considering doing a 'Naruto doesn't get the Kyuubi, but his twin does and for that he is ignored,' type of deal. Are any of you interested in that?**

**Another thing that I want to get out and get everyone's opinion on. I am thinking of writing a book one day. No, nothing fanfiction, just a real story. You guys think I can pull it off? Do you want minor details?**

The first thing the blond heard when he woke up was someone shouting his name. However, he was to groggy to care as he got up, ignoring the fact that the wires and whatnot were snapping off of him. He didn't even notice the metal hand on his face.

"Ugh…I feel like a train hit me." Naruto mumbled out.

That got a deep laugh from his sensei, Zabuza. "Kid, it looked worse than that, but at least you're alive. Can't have one of my best students really dying on me."

"Yeah, I feel so loved." Naruto grumbled because he was brought in a hug by his teammates.

"Don't do something stupid again." Guren choked out.

"Not making any promises." Naruto said sadly as he hugged them.

"I guess it was worth it since you have some degree of control for that new arm." Haku said. "What is what that anyway? Shouldn't you have little to no control?"

"I can explain that." Mifune cut in. "Due to being a jinchuriki and having metal already on the bones, he has good control due to the new and improved healing factor."

"Nice." Naruto said as he moved the arm around to get a feel for it. Then he remembered something. "Hey, Kurama mentioned something adding something."

Mifune nodded. "Indeed. The fox made constructs of his chakra to create bone like structures in your arm and went as far as manipulating the metal arm as well. So from what I have seen, I think he created Katars in your arms."

"Sweet, now I have three weapons to choose from, but the Katars are going hurt coming out, aren't they?"

"Like you won't be believe, kid." Zabuza said as he patted the boy's back.

Misa finally made herself seen and walked right up to the blond with a sad look. "Glad you made it."

"So do I." Naruto replied in kind.

Then Misa's expression changed to curious. "So, who did you meet?" She asked, getting questioning looks from everyone but Mifune.

"Well." Naruto started. "Like you I met my mother, but I also met my father, the original Grim Reaper, and the Sage of Six Paths." Everyone started at him in shock, wonder what was going on. However, most had one thought and it was that the Sage actually existed!? "What?"

XXX

A week later, we see the group on the outskirts of town, ready to go. "Thank you again for helping with my arm problem. And giving me some of those extras for the arm as well."

"It was my pleasure." Mifune stated with a bow.

Naruto turned to Misa next. "Thank you too for giving me that advice and for being a new friend."

Misa smiled gently before giving the blond boy a hug. "No problem," She whispered. "Maybe later we can be more than friends." She back up to see the blush on his face with a big smirk on her own. She looked towards Guren and winked, making said girl giggle.

Mifune smiled and said, "Naruto, be sure to do those exercises to get the arm up to full use."

"I will, but just so you know, I am going to get this thing fully functional under the time needed and then I'll be one of the strongest ninja around, believe it!" Naruto shouted.

Zabuza chuckled, "Don't Mifune, I got him handled."

"Very well old friend, I trust you." Mifune said politely as he, Misa, and the man's second in command watched them go.

After they were fully out of sight, Mifune's second in command said, "That boy is something else."

"Indeed." Mifune muttered before an idea came to mind. "I think by the time the Exams come around, he will have found a village. That is why I want to see what they generation can to do."

"Dad?" Misa asked curiously.

"For that to be done, I think we will host the Exams this year." Mifune stated before turning to his second in command. "Let the villages know."

"Yes sir!" The man said before trudging off.

Misa smiled brightly. _Naruto…we may be seeing each again very soon. _

XXX

It has been a month since the gang left Iron Country and traversed more of Earth. In that time, their training skyrocketed and now they could hold their own. Maybe not against S-Class Ninja, but a good number of high class ninja. In fact, Naruto progressed very well despite his need to get full functionality to his metal arm. He even learned how to use the claws, as he put them, to good use. Haku made a few special moves that were quite deadly.

Zabuza even had an experience of his own. Sure, he had gotten closer to Shizune, but during that time, they had become a couple and to every one's surprise, Shizune was actually expecting. So yes, Zabuza had gotten over his old girlfriend and found love with Shizune. Heh, Tsunade had almost killed him when she found out, but thankfully Naruto and Shizune managed to calm the enraged woman down.

Now however, Zabuza was putting Naruto and his team to work. They had been on missions when they found a town. While there, Tsunade and Shizune would help anyone they could and Zabuza would find work for the team. It was through a port town that Haku was able to gain a summoning contract for payment. Although Haku barely ever used it, he did say the name if it. Leviathan.

Right now, Zabuza had set up an odd mission for them. It was more of a treasure hunt than anything else. They had to get a strange jewel called the Demon's Eye. All the client wanted to know was that if the jewel existed at all. It was an odd request and Zabuza was acting strange, but they took it anyway.

However, they had to meet a partner of sorts since they were not the only ones to accept the job. Naruto was leading his friends to the meeting point and as expected, they saw the person they were looking for. They didn't know her name.

She wore an orange clip in her short, spiky mint green hair that matched her eye colour, which was also orange. Her ninja outfit consisted of a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armour underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. Her forehead protector was worn on her right arm, which showed that she was from Taki. She also carried a cylindrical object in red wrapping on her back.

Naruto being Naruto, just walked up to the girl with a smile. "So you are our partner for this eh? Cool, Name's Naruto Uzuamki. The girlie boy behind he me is Haku Yuki and the real girl is Guren Lagan."

Suddenly he was smacked in the back of the head by the Crystal user, "I can introduce myself you know."

"I know, but I was just being nice." Naruto replied nonchalantly.

The girl from Taki chuckled to herself and said, "Don't worry, I appreciate. I am Fu by the way." She then looked a little nervous. "Um, there is a reason I am by myself and I hope you don't hate me for it. My village just avoids me. I am the Jichuriki of the Seven Tails. I just wanted to be up front with you."

Guren's eyes gained a twinkle in them as she look from Fu to Naruto and a devious smirk appeared on her face. Haku just smiled brightly and Naruto, he had a look of awe on his face. The reactions were just confusing the girl.

Seeing this, Naruto decided to explain to the girl. "Well it is stupid that your village avoids you and it would be stupid of me to have a problem with you because that would be hypocritical of me since I hold the Nine Tails."

Fu blinked stupidly before a smile appeared on her face and she pulled Naruto in for a one armed hug. "AWESOME! I met someone like me!" She then looked at his friends and asked him, 'So they don't have a problem with me either?"

"Nope!" Naruto chirped.

"We are bloodline users from Kiri, so we know what it is like." Haku stated politely, making Fu nod in understanding.

"Well alright then, let's go get some treasure!" Fu cheered happily. The group nodded and tracked forward to the location of the cave they need to go to. As they traversed, Guren held Fu back so that she could better talk with her. Her plan to set Naruto up with her was in motion.

XXX

Zabuza was once again in the back of a bar, talking with Jiriaya. "So…am I right?"

Jiriaya sighed and nodded. "Yep, I can't believe me or my spy network. That mission was a ploy to bring you out to them. The kids are just going to be distracted by the fake treasure hunt. You are supposed to go to them or they will use the kids to get to you."

"Damnit." Zabuza growled. "The cowards!"

"Listen, they never said you couldn't go alone. Let me help you with these hunter-nin." Jiriaya offered.

Zabuza sighed. "No. I knew this day was coming. I just hoped it was later then sooner. Especially after I finally found happiness." He paused and then said, "If they should succeed, please look after them….especially Naruto and….my unborn kid."

Jiriaya blinked. Now that was something he didn't know. However, as to who it was that was carrying the man kid was easy. Tsunade was too old and was still hung up on Dan to care for another relationship. So that left Shizune. "I didn't expect that from you. I guess those kids really did soften you up, but very well, I will look out for them the best I can. I know Tsunade will not be happy to see me, but oh well."

"Where do you think they will go?" Zabuza asked.

"Tsunade will join them since Naruto is family to her now, but probably the nearest Hidden Village." Jiriaya stated.

"Iwa." Zabuza stated.

"Oh yeah…and Sensei will be pissed…I think." The Toad Sage said with grimace. "I guess this is the last time we meet."

"Yeah…" Zabuza replied. "But I will fight, I am a bit better now than I was with Kakashi."

"Yeah…good luck." Jiriaya said as he got up to leave.

XXX

"So….this is it?" Naruto asked as the group looked at a very bland looking cave. "If people want some treasure from this cave, why hasn't one gotten it yet?"

Guren sighed as she smacked the back of the blond's head. "Idiot."

"Oi! What was that for!" Naruto barked, making Fu laugh.

"It is simple, we can't use chakra in there. There is something in there that prevents people from actively using chakra. That is way no one has ever found the treasure inside." Fu explained for him.

"Correct." Haku stated. "While it makes sure we can't use chakra, there are obstacles in there that no normal person can get around."

"Huh….why didn't I know that?" Naruto asked.

"Because you didn't read the mission papers." Guren sighed.

"Oh…right." Naruto said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No worries, let's just tackle one thing at a time." Fu said with a smile as they entered the cave.

Once inside, they all felt a little weaker and Naruto commented on it. "So, this is what normal people deal with. It sucks."

Fu laughed, "I suppose it does Naruto, but they still do a lot of thing in life."

As the two jinchuriki chatted, Guren and Haku observed them from behind as they kept moving forward. 'They seem to be getting along." Haku stated with a smile.

"Yes and maybe we can get Naruto with her. They just seem…right together." Guren said with a smirk.

"I seem to recall you saying something similar with Misa and Temari….well after you started liking them." Haku mentioned.

"So?" Guren replied. "There are many girls for our little brother to be with. He just has to choose and so far he has not."

"Sometimes I just don't get you." Haku deadpanned.

"No worries, I am just trying to help, but it seems to is doing a fair job himself of attracting the girl." Guren observed.

"I guess you are right." Haku stated as he watched the interaction between Naruto and Fu. Naruto was just being himself and Fu did not seem to mind it, also it seemed that she was taking a shine to him.

Before anything else could be said, they had to stop. Why? Well there was a huge hole in the ground and they could not ninja jump it. "How are we going to get across?" Naruto asked.

Fu thought about it and said, "Simple, I throw you."

"That seems go- what WHAAAATTT!" Naruto shouted as he was thrown across to the other side, Haku and Guren soon followed him, screaming all the way. "Are you nuts?! We could have died!"

"But you didn't." Fu said cheerfully.

"How did you do that anyway?" Naruto shouted.

"The natural ability that my tailed beast gives me. I have great strength and it overpowers this cave a bit." Fu explained.

"Super strength? Man, and all I get is super healing….and great stamina." Naruto grumbled under his breather before he noticed that Fu was still on the other side. "So, how are you going to get over here?"

"Well, I am going to try and fly. I am not sure how long it will last, but it never hurts to try." Fu replied as she started channeling a massive amount of her demon chakra. Doing so made chakra wings appear on her back that made Naruto shout in awe. Before the cave could repress that chakra she jumped and flew across the gap with all her strength.

However, that did not last because as soon as she was almost to the edge, she felt the cave's effects and her wings disappeared, which made her fall. Thankfully she was caught by Naruto. "I got ya!" Then, with all the strength he could muster, he pulled her up, which made him lose his balance and she fell on top of him, making them both blush at the closeness.

"Um…thanks." Fu said after she quickly got off of him with a dark blush on her face. She would admit that she like the feel of his muscles through his clothes, but that also made her feel a bit shallow thanks to her own strength. However, she did find that she had an attraction to the blond, which was not bad given her current state in Taki. Only time would tell.

"N-no problem." Naruto replied with an equally sized blush. He had to admit that he liked the feel on her body on his, but he was not about to admit that. He didn't know how he felt at the moment either. While he knew there were a lot of girls going after him, he did feel a connection with her. Ugh, this shit was just way too confusing for him.

While the two jinchuriki were having their inner monologues, Haku had noticed something odd going on with Naruto's currently folded up scythe at his side. It was glowing darkly and it seemed to be reacting to the air around them.

That caused something dark to happen in the form a nearby skeleton to speak. **Do you seek the treasure?** However, it was said in a language that only Naruto could understand. That did not stop Guren from screaming about it though.

"TALKING SKELETON!" The blue haired girl screamed as she grabbed onto Haku, who looked freaked out a bit. Fu looked no better as she paled considerably.

Naruto just looked at the stationary top half the skeleton in wonder. "Yeah, we seek the treasure. Are you saying that it actually exists?"

**Yes, but you will have to do something for the Pirate King.**

"And that would be?" Naruto replied, getting odd looks from his friends.

**I do not know, but the crew from the great Blue will call upon you for help. ** It said before going quiet once more.

"Well, that is interesting." Naruto said.

"What?" Fu asked.

"Apparently, after all the traps we will have to face in there, we have to do something for the dead people guarding the treasure."

"Well, that is interesting." Haku repeated, making the blond laugh as they went deeper into the cave. Guren and Fu just looked at each other before following after the two boys.

XXX

Zabuza sat in the middle of a clearing, meditating. He was reviewing his life thus far. He knew he was lucky to be alive still after what he did back in mist. He knew he was living on borrowed time.

After his failed assassination attempt with the 4th Mizakage, Yagura, he had been running ever since. He failed to kill a Jinchuriki with full control over its powers. He failed the rebellion. He failed Mei.

Then, he found Haku and things started to get better. He knew that if he went back, he would either be killed by Yagura or Mei would for leaving her to deal with the rebellion. Still, Haku brightened up his day, so he started to teach the kid.

Then he found Naruto through sheer dumb luck and the same could be said for Guren. They made his life great and turned him around. However, while he wanted to help with the rebellion before, now he didn't. He knew they were not ready for that and Yagura would just kill them if they failed. He was not about to let that happen.

Then there was Shizune and Tsunade. While Tsunade was a hard ass in the medical department, making sure Haku learned what he needed; she was still a good member to have on the team. Finally there was Shizune. Now, Zabuza was sure he could never get over Mei, but Shizune was there for him and never threatened to melt his balls off. She was a kind woman that he could not help but fall for.

They were even going to have a kid, but….he didn't know if he was going to be there for it. He had been caught by Kiri and now he had to face the music.

"So you decided to come instead of run. Smart, we were just going to kill those kids if they made it out of that cave. Now, we don't have too." A voice said as four Kiri Hunter Ninja dropped in.

However, Zabuza noticed something off and sighed. _Fuck_. These were no ordinary Hunter-nin. They were Yagura's personal guard. His toughest Shinobi. "Yes, I do still have honor."

"Whatever you say man. With you dead, the rebellion will take a major blow to their moral. I am surprised that they are still hanging, let alone winning." The man said. He was awful chatty, but Zabuza knew better. He knew who this was and knew he was in for the fight of his life. "So, you going to come quietly or are you going to fight?"

"I have a family to protect, I will return to them. So you will have to come with everything you have, I will do the same." Zabuza stated as he took ahold of his blade. Before their eyes, Zabuza exploded with power. Chakra was visibly rolling off his body and his blade looked like it was aflame with blue fire. "Because I have something I am fighting for."

"Well, bully for you!" The lead hunter-nin said gleefully as he and the others rushed the swordman.

XXX

"A ship?" Guren asked when they entered the main chamber of the cave. It was huge with a lake inside. On the other side of the chamber, there seemed to be an opening of sorts, but only opened just so.

"Oh right. The dead guy did say that the owners of the treasure were a crew from the Blue." Naruto commented as he looked at the ship. It was a Brig Sloop type of ship and boy was it old. It looked so decayed that it could fall apart at any moment, but it still stayed a float on the lake. The ship had a dead lawn on its deck, complete with a swing and a slide, as well as an observation tower for a crow's nest. The sails on the masts were ripped and had a lot of holes. It also has a strange lion head at the front.

"I wonder what it was called." Fu stated.

"Well, if we are going to help them and get the treasure, we might as well hurry up and get to the ship." Guren stated.

"I thought toy were still scare of it." Haku asked.

"I am, but we should just hurry up and be done with it. I want to get the hell out of this place." The bluenette replied. The group nodded and dashed across the water and up the hull of the boat until they were on the deck.

"Ok…so what now?" Fu asked.

Naruto shrugged before he extended the scythe since that was what made things happen before. As soon as it hit the deck, it sent out a wave of dark energy that rocked the ship a bit. That was when things got strange for them.

Time seemed to reverse for the area, but it also took on a transparent look to it all. The nearby skeletons also seemed to levitate for a moment before the images of their old selves appeared. If they were really pirates, they certainly didn't look like it.

A man, wearing a red vest like piece of clothing, a yellow sash, a pair of blue jean shorts, sandals and a straw hat, looked at them and smiled. **Hi, the name's Monkey D. Luffy!**

"Nice to meet ya, Luffy." Naruto said cheerfully. "So , I hear you need help."

"Wait, we can understand them now?" Guren asked her friends, who just shrugged, not understanding how that was possible now.

A woman with long orange hair, the top half of a blue striped bikini, blue jeans, shoes, and a belt that held a staff of sorts, walked over and said, **Yes, we were pirates apart of the Pirate King's crew, so naturally we die at sea, but there is something about this cave that makes us stay here. We need to leave and sail the dead to the Locker.**

"I'll do what I can." Naruto said.

Before he could say anything else, a man with short green hair, a white shirt, black pants, and three swords on his belt came over and looked at the blond. **Kid, what is your name?**

"Me? Call me Naruto Uzumaki, the Grim Reaper Shinobi." Naruto said proudly.

Luffy and the Orange Haired girl had wide eyes at that as they looked at each other and then back at Naruto. Naruto's friends had a feeling they knew what was going to happen. Luffy walked over to Naruto as if he were in a daze and asked. **You are an Uzumaki?**

"Yeah." Naruto stated, looking at the man oddly.

The woman smiled and hugged the blond, making him freeze up because he could somehow feel it. **I am so glad that our line still exists.**

"Huh?" The blond replied intelligently.

The green haired man decided to speak up again. **Kid, Luffy and Nami are your ancestors. If I remember correctly, their first born married a Senju and created the Uzumaki in Whirlpool.**

The group all had jaws on the ground at that. The Uzumaki was descendants of the Pirate King? Cool. Still, Naruto wondered how they were stuck here. "I am glad to have met some more of my family, I still wonder why and how you got stuck here."

**I can answer that.** A humanoid reindeer said in a squeaky voice. **This place was one of our hide outs since the old World Government didn't know this place existed. However, the people here was not friendly to us at first and to hurt Luffy and Nami's kid, they trapped us in here. The cave-in killed us and it takes one of their blood to open the stone doors.**

"Oh? So how do I open them then?" Naruto asked, wanting to help his dead family out. Yeah, it was complicated.

**It is actually simple. ** Another woman's voice replied. Her attire was kind of odd like the others; she wore an all purple cowgirl outfit. **All you have to do is called Open. We can't do it because we are dead and it has to be someone that is alive and a descendent of Luffy and Nami.**

"That's it?" Fu asked. "That sounds way too simple, but hopefully it works.

Before Naruto said anything to free the dead or that Guren could protest about not getting any treasure, Nami spoke up. **Wait, I want to give you guys something before you go. I know it is not in my nature to be so giving like this, but this is a special case.**

Luffy nodded and nodded to one of the others. A long nosed guy nodded, disappeared, and then came back with a trunk of sorts. **Naruto, this odd jewel is what we kept. We found it and we knew it was worth a lot, but never did anything with it. It is called the Demon's Eye. ** Naruto nodded and took the jewel. It was a reddish-orange jewel that was shaped like a perfectly cut diamond, however, there was strange black marking in the center that looked demonic, like Naruto's red eyes when he goes Kyuubi. He felt power with it and knew this was something to keep.

The woman from earlier, the one that looked like a cowgirl, walked up to Haku and said,** I sense that this Mask will be of use to you.** The mask was pure white, but it had a depiction of a pair of eyes looking at you with softness. However, it gave off an eeriness as well, especially with that creepy smile on it. Haku did notice a strange sealing array on the back of it and decided to check that out later.

Nami walked up to Guren and handed her the staff that was at her side along with another staff.** I will give you two staffs. Well…this one is more like a spear. The end is covered in diamonds and it seemed to have a strange effect to those with earth powers. The other is called the Clima-Tact. I am sure you can figure out how to use it.** Guren smiled and thanked the ghost, still scared shitless of her.

The long nosed one went up to Fu and said, **I am Usopp, the great Pirate King!**

Fu took one deadpanned look at the guy and said, "Bullshit," making the crew laugh while Usopp hung his head. **Here, I made these, but never got a chance to use them.** They were four armbands and a necklace. **They give you the ability to create pheromones to influence targets emotions as you desire. They are great for the kind of things Ninja do….at least I still think that they still exist on this land.**

"Thank you." Fu replied thinking about a few missions she could have used them.

Naruto looked at all his friends and then at the dead crew members. "Ok, I will do this for you and again, I am glad to have met you all." He took his scythe in hand again and slammed the end of it on the deck while yelling out, "OPEN!" dramatically. When noting happened after a few seconds, he fell like an idiot. However, the grinding sound of stone on stone sounded and the stone doors slide open and bring in a current. The ship started to move and the ninja jumped onto the water. The watched as the ship sailed away with the crew giving off their trademark goodbyes.

Soon, the lively images of the dead faded away, leaving the team all by themselves. Somehow, they felt that that image was significant.

XXX

**Ok, I am done with this chapter. I am sure you all can guess as to what will happen in the next chapter. I planned it like that, however, I did not plan on how freaking long it would take for me to write all the way to Iwa, but next chapter will be just that. So yeah, they find out what happened to Zabuza and the group heads their way to Iwa since that is the closest place…while also finding Kurotsuchi on the way. As for Fu, they will meet again during the chunin exams. **

**I am tired, but I will be working on the next chapter of NPU3 and hopefully it will be out this weekend.**

**Meijer better call me damnit!**

**Review, I feed off that crap.**


	9. Memories and Moving On

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 9**

**And annoying as it is, I took too long to get this chapter out because I was sulking about not getting a job at a freaking grocery store. Seriously, what the hell is with that? How can I not be qualified enough to work at a meijer's! My luck sucks so fucking much, I swear!**

**Oh and apparently Disney bought out Star Wars….epic vader: NOOOOOOO! **

**So what are your thoughts? Anyway, I am going to try my best with this chapter, because I am not great with sad emotional chapters. You have been warned.**

As soon as they exited the cave, the group knew something was very wrong. Why? Because the air was saturated with so much chakra it was scary. However, they knew this chakra to be the chakra of their sensei, Zabuza.

It was a lot more massive than usual and it was fading fast. They did not know why but they had an idea.

Haku was the first to rush off, fearing for his sensei's life. If Kiri had indeed come, he needed to make sure he survived. He was quickly followed by Naruto then Guren and Fu.

They were not alone in this endeavor, it seemed that Tsunade and Shizune had felt the power radiating in the air and joined the kids about halfway to the man.

What they found was not a pretty site. Half a mile out, they saw signs of a massive battle. Apparently whoever Zabuza had fought had been strong because the scars were deep, so deep that most of the land was destroyed and it did not liven up the mood at all for the group.

And they were right be afraid for the man because it just got worse the further they got to the epicenter of the fight, where Zabuza was lying on his back and looking like a bloody mess. There were deep gashes on his torso and his arm looked mangled, but the people he fought looked way worse. There were pieces of ninja all over the place. No one was left standing.

"Sensei!" Haku, Guren, and Naruto all shouted. Shizune numbly walked up to her lover as silent tears ran down her face. She immediately started her work one trying to heal him. What she found was horrible.

"Tsunade!" she cried, hoping to get her help.

Said woman was looking around in horror. All the blood and gore was over whelming! She might have fought in a war or two and lost her own lover and her brother to one of them, but this was horrifying. However, it was thanks to Naruto that she got over her fear of blood, but this brought some of it back. She quickly made her way to the Swordsman and sighed at the deep wounds, wounds that would be hard even for her to heal.

Making her hand glow green, she began her own checkup and it horrified her. She was so angry with this man that she wanted to hit him, but she refrained from doing that. "YOU FOOL!"

"This….was….something I had…to do on my own." Zabuza rasped out.

"You could not beat them alone with your normal power fool! So why resort to this?" Tsunade screamed.

Zabuza was quiet form a moment as he weakly looked at them all. "Because….of you all. If I have not faced them…..you all would be forever….. tormented by them because of my past mistake." He paused for a moment to catch what little breath he had left. "My students….and children….did not deserve any of that. My love and…unborn child….and my medic friend…I could not let them go after you."

"Sensei….no, FATHER! Please hang on!" Haku cried.

Zabuza smiled weakly at the ice user. "Haku, you were my first student. I only treated you as my tool due to….my want for revenge. But that changed as I trained you and the kicker was the blond boy you brought with you one day. I will always see you as my son. Take my blade, it is rightfully yours."

Haku nodded with tears running down his face like a waterfall as he took the giant blade. However as big as the damn thing wa,s it was not at all heavy for him, something that Zabuza knew as well.

Zabuza then turned to Guren and smiled. "Even though I still….don't think I am cut out to be a father, I am….glad we took you along. I am…glad to have a daughter like you. Protect you family no matter the cost….like I did…if you have to."

"Yes…father." Guren choked out. In all reality, she did see the man as a father. He took her away from that damnable village and took care of her. He might have been a little rough around the edges, but she liked that. Hell her own father probably wouldn't have been as good as this man.

"Naruto….." Zabuza rasped out. "You….were a pain in the ass, but you were my best student believe it or not. Konoha was stupid to have thrown you away as they did. You were also like a son to me, however, I could never replace the man that was your real father. I could….see it your eyes. I can always settle for the Uncle position with you." He chuckled painfully at that along with said blond. "You are also the strongest student I have. So I want you to protect them with all you have. You have them to protect you as well, so always be with them in that endeavor.

"I will." Naruto said determinedly.

Zabuza then turned to a crying Shizune as she kneeled next to him. "I…am…sorry."

"I know."

"I love you." Zabuza replied.

"I love you too." Shizune replied again as she leaned in to kiss him. She wished she could be mad at him, but he had made her happy. But now he was going to be gone.

Slowly, Zabuza smiled with in the kiss, content. With that, there was stillness and the Former Demon of the Mist was dead

XXX

In the next few days after Zabuza died, things were depressing. Sure they managed to bury Zabuza's body, but it was still very depressing.

Guren decided to spend a lot of time with Shizune and Haku. They spent time training, crying, and comforting each other. However, for the girl, she remembered a special time back in the desert with her father figure.

_Flashback…_

Training for Guren was like normal for her and the big bad Demon of the Mist. However, right now, all they were really doing was throwing rocks. Zabuza had just beaten her again in a spar.

"You did well Guren." Zabuza said as he saw on a rock near the water of the Oasis and decided that it was good enough to throw.

"You still beat me, even in your weakened, delirious state." Guren sighed. "I guess you really are strong."

"Well, I have been training on my own as well…I am nowhere near S-class and I have to protect my students somehow."

Guren smiled. Her teacher was a big softie despite his reputation. She smiled as she leaned on the man's shoulder. "I am glad you guys found me instead of that freak who killed off my entire village."

Zabuza, still uncomfortable with his feelings with these kids, just wrapped his arm around the girl. "Thank you…dad." He heard her say, which put a big smile on his face.

She was about to fall asleep when she felt the earth move. "The earth is shaking."

_Flashback End…_

That time was special to her. It was when she finally said the man was a real father that she never really had before. It was a time that she would always remember. She looked up at the woman holding her and smiled with a determined glint in her eye. For Zabuza, she would protect the woman she would call mom and her unborn child.

Shizune looked down at the girl in her arm and smiled. Guren was a nice girl and she thought the girl would make a great sister. Yeah….sister. The woman inwardly chuckled at the thought of being a mother and despite the fact that her child would not have a father, it would have a great family, a family that was set up by her lover and kept together thanks to a certain blond.

If she ever met Kushina in the afterlife, she would have to thank her for the red head's son.

Going on that line of thought, she smiled. This situation she was thinking of seemed familiar. Looking over to a sleeping Tsunade in their hotel room, Shizune smiled at the memory of how Tsunade took her being pregnant…it was sort like when the woman found out Kushina was pregnant.

_Flashback!_

Shizune came out of her hotel bathroom with a big smile on her face. She honestly thought this day would never come because she always was traveling with Tsunade and keeping her healthy, along with keeping her company. "YES!"

"Ugh….keep it down Shizune." Tsunade groaned as she sat up in bed, nursing her mind splitting hangover. "What are you excited about this early in the morning?"

"Tsunade-sama, it is noon." Shizune deadpanned.

"My point." Tsunade replied with a straight face.

The young medic just sighed before smiling brightly again. "Tsunade…I'm pregnant!"

And just like that, the hangover was gone and the room went deathly quiet. "And who's the father?"

"Zabuza of course!"

"ZABUZA!" Tsunade screamed.

XXX

Down in the lobby, said man spit out his cereal when her heard Tsuande's voice. "Oh shit….now what did I do?"

That day, the ensuing beat down, brought down the hotel and created many jokes courtesy of Naruto.

_Flashback End!_

Haku knelt next to Zabuza. His tears had all but dried up and he just stared at the grave with a blank face. He felt lost without his father's guidance, but he knew he had to move on. "Father, I wish you didn't have to die, but this is our life, we are ninja and death is a natural part of our life. Still, if I ever get the chance, I'll take out the 4th Mizukage for you."

_Flashback!_

"Haku, there is something I have to tell you." Zabuza voiced as he finished training the ice user, He had to go to Naruto next to see if he was ok.

"What is that master?" Haku asked.

At the 'master' word , it made Zabuza wince a bit. "Haku, I am sorry for the way I treated you before. YOU are not just a weapon, a tool. I realized now, thanks to Naruto being here, that you are a person and I sorry for the way I treated before."

Haku just looked at the man with a deer in the head lights look.

"So, from now on, I want you stop calling me your master like I own you. You can call me sensei, but know this; I have come to see you as a son."

Haku's eyes watered a bit before he flung himself at the man, giving him a hug, something the man was awkward with as he just patted the boy on the head. "No problem…father." Yes, this man was way better than his old father, who basically tried to kill him for having a bloodline.

"Oh and Haku, I know I am not strong enough to take out the 4th Mizukage, and if I die, you might have a chance, but don't throw your life away trying to kill him." Haku just nodded in understanding.

_Flashback End!_

Haku nodded to himself. "You may have charged Naruto with protecting us, but his like a brother to me and I know how reckless he still is. If anyone needs protecting it is him, and _will_ do so. He is _my _brother and the rest of them are now _my_ family. No one will hurt them. If the Mizukage wants them, I will kill him if he gets close; that is my promise!" He said that with such determination that the world seemed to quiet down around him just to listen to the usually kind boy's words.

The sword on his back also seemed to heed his words as it began to shine with an ice glow before it shifted into its true form that belong with him. When the glow died down, it looked see through thanks to the ice it was now made of. However, this was not normal ice, it was some of the coldest ice known to man due to the face that it seemed to freeze the air around it, giving it a misty look. It was still a huge blade, but now it seemed to curve like a crescent moon.

This was no longer the Executioner's Blade, it was now the Glacier Slicer

So he put on his new mask and quietly made his way back to the hotel.

XXX

Naruto lay on his back in a field on short grass. Surprisingly there _was_ grass in Earth Country, you just needed to find it. As he lay on the grass, he stared at the passing clouds, a pastime he picked up from Shikamaru when he was still in Konoha.

Laying next to him was Fu. After the death of Zabuza, she should see that Naruto was in a lot of pain and decided to stick around for a little longer.

"This doesn't change a thing." Naruto suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Fu asked, not understanding what he meant.

"That fact that my goal is and will always be the same. I will protect my family. Zabuza-sensei….i wish I could have been there, but I know there was nothing I could do. I am not strong enough yet, but I am getting there. I think if he waited so we could work together, we might have won, but I know that is a lie."

"Why is that?"

"Because, that field was like a war had been wagged. If we had been there, he would have been holding back to protect us and that would have gotten us all killed. No…there are just some battles you have to fight on your own. Zabuza-sensei will always have my respect and for that, I will keep my word to protect my family. Even you, since you are one of my friends."

Fu smiled brightly at that remark. "Good, because I have never had many friends, even though i protect my vilage." She said as she rolled on to him so that she was straddling him. "But, maybe in the future we can be _more_ than friends."

"Fu, what are you doing?"

"Showing you what I want and taking your mind of the depressing atmosphere." She replied as she leaned in and kissed him.

**(Lime Warning…because I want to. If I don't get contacted to take it down and shit, I will probably bring back the others for my other stories)**

As soon as he got permission for his tongue to enter her mouth, he heard her moan. No don't the reason for that was because of his erection that she was now rubbing herself against.

Fu inwardly smirked as she moaned again, it seemed that one of her new bracelets were working perfectly. She was influencing his sex drive….or it was the fact that she was on top of him…either one worked. She wanted him, but not yet, she did not want to get pregnant. Well, not yet.

As she reached into his panted to stroke him a bit, she gasped at how he was for his age and he would only get bigger as he grew. "We are jinchuriki, who should stick together. I want you, but we can do it later. Instead, let me show you something we can do a lot of in the future."

Fu smirked as the blond blushed hard when she pull down his pants. Taking out his member, she marveled at the size and then put it in her mouth, bobbing her head up and down on it.

"Argh! Wow, that is amazing!" Naruto growled out as he put a hand on her head, making the girl smirk.

After about five minutes, Naruto had enough and gave out a cry and he came in her mouth.

"Wow, it was not expecting that." Naruto said with a blush as he watched her swallow his load.

"Well, I want you and maybe later we can be together." Fu replied before she leaned in again to kiss him.

XXX **Lime End**

A few days later, we see the group on their way out of town. Fu had already left, saying that she was needed back in Waterfall. She was their protector after all.

"So…where are we even going now?" Haku asked.

"That is the question, now isn't it?" Guren replied.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before he glanced at Tsunade and then to Shizune. "Iwa."

"What?" Haku asked.

"I say we head to Iwa, it is the nearest Hidden Village and I don't think Shizune needs to be walking around for very long…and the road is no place to raise a baby."

"That is a good idea." Shizune replied.

"True and like I said, Iwa is safe for you now since they the only people to really hold a grudge against you, Naruto, are either dead or missing ninja." Tsunade replied with a smirk, liking how he thought.

"I like this idea." Haku replied. "I would either go there or Kumo. I will not run back to Kiri just to fight in a civil war. While the Mizukage should die, I will not fight him when not needed."

"And I would rather not go to Suna…to freaking hot." Guren offered.

"And Konoha is out the question." Naruto replied, making the group nod.

"Iwa it is then. Boy, won't the Tsuchikage be surprised to see me again….and with company." Tsunade chuckled as they started walking in a comfortable silence. As they did, she remembered seeing various items the group got in their venture into the caves, however, she never saw Naruto's souvenir.

"Naruto, what did you get in the caves?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto fished the eye like gem out of his pocket and said, "I got something called the Demon's Eye." He then handed it to her.

Tsunade eyed the gem before her eyes widened. "Naruto, this is a control gem!" At Naruto's blank look, she elaborated. "This was used long ago to help people with large chakra reserves to gain control over it. If you use this, I bet you will be able to use genjutsu and maybe if you wanted to, medical jutsu as well."

"Wow." Haku said, "You should stick with Genjutsu, Naruto, I heard that some people, mainly the Kurama Clan back in Konoha, can making illusions real."

"You know, that could help with my style in the future." Naruto said. "Oh this is sweet."

XXX _a few days later._

The group was a few miles from Iwa when they came upon a bad sight. A dead Iwa team, but tu was a not a full team. One of them was missing. Tsunade narrowed her eyes for a moment, thinking whoever did this was the missing person.

Thankfully, that was not the case because they heard signs of a battle going on in the distance. Quickly making their way there, they found a giant of a man, with only a pair of black shorts on, grinning darkly at girl in a kneeling position, with blood covering one side of her face.

She had short black hair, pupil-less pink eyes which are accentuated by her eyelashes running upwards at the corners, a red shirt with the right sleeve missing, a lapel over her right leg, fishnet tights and a skirt over that, with black shinobi sandals, and a pair of black gloves.

However, she looked pretty beat down by the look her tired, but defiant eyes as she glared weakly at the man above her. "Asshole!" She growled out.

"You realize you can't do a thing girl. I have killed your teammates with ease. And I am going to kill you, that should make that old fool grandfather of yours to actually come out and get killed by me in no time." The man said with a cruel grin.

"What do you have against my grandfather!?" the girl growled.

"That old fool should have made ME the next Tsuchikage! Then I could have taken out Konoha with ease. The old fool should have struck when world about the Kyuubi became known, but what does he do? He just sits in his office, saying it is not his problem and that I should let what happened in the war go! I WON'T DO THAT! I LOST EVERYONE IN THAT WAR! NOW I WILL MAKE HIM PAY BY TAKING EVERYTHING FROM HIM!"

"No….leave her alone." A voice called out calmly.

The man snapped his head in the voice's direction and he saw red. "I don't fucking believe me luck."

"Let her go." Naruto said again.

"Sure, I would rather kill you instead!" The man roared, not noticing the gem on the boy's hand glow and the girl pass out from exhaustion. He just charged the boy recklessly and brought both of his mammoth fists down on Naruto's head.

XXXX

**There, a little cliff hanger. I wanted to get there out sooner, but nothing would come to me. Please tell what you thought and please don't flame me for the lime. Also, if any of you can think of a better name than Glacier Slicer, please tell me.**

**REVIEW!**


	10. Welcome to Iwa

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 10**

**So yeah, I am back with this next installment. I also have poll on my profile, please check it out. Hey, I watched some anime called Eden of the East. It was ok, a bit short, but the story is good. If any of you have seen it, what did you all think of it?**

An explosion of black smoke met the giant man when his fists met the young blond's head. "What the hell?" He asked, bewildered as he looked at the smoke. He then grew enraged. "So playing those annoying games, just like your father….pathetic!"

"So…you seem to know who I am, but I have no idea who you are." The voice of Naruto said. To the man, it seemed that the voice was all over, but then he noticed the smoke converging in on itself and a mouth was smiling at him.

"Argh….i am Kengen! I am the last of the great clan called Chikara! We held the Strength Release. We are decided from a man overseas, a great man call Hercules!"

"Last?"

"Yes, during the war, you father slaughter us all!I was merely a child back then, but I vowed to kill him, but then he gets him and his rumored wife killed by the beast known as the Kyuubi!" Kengen roared but then laughed. "So I decided to rebel against that stubborn old man. He said war was war and we should just forget the past, like people in this last can forget that shit, the last 3 wars are proof of that. Never mind he lost his own daughter to the war! So I was going to kill his own granddaughter when you showed up, son of the Yellow Flash!"

Naruto reformed and said, "You can try if you want."

"FINE!" The giant man roared. "**Strength Style: Earth Shatter!"**

With a name like that, that was sure to be trouble for anyone, especially the unconscious girl. So just before the man struck the ground, Naruto turned to smoke, taking the girl with him. And he was smart to do that because the area around Kengen literally became a giant fissure of sorts and that was bound to have attracted some attention. He needed to finish this soon.

"Well, that was interesting." Naruto said, kneeling next to the girl.

The man just stared at him in shock. "How the hell did you escape that!?"

"You're not very bright, are you?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Ugh! Just tell me whelp!"

"Fine, it is called Real Genjutsu." The man just looked lost. "Man, you are dumb….and that is saying something because I am not the sharpest kunai around. Anyway, I found a special item that lets me do genjutsu, but at the same time make it real. So, I made a few….hundred clones to help me practice it and so far…..i have not gotten that far with it. I can only make me and whatever I am touching part of the genjutsu. However, I have found it useful in combat because I cannot be touched."

The man just glared at him. Kengen knew how genjutsu worked, but this was different, it was more dangerous. "So what? You can attack me with it as well?"

"No." Naruto said sheepishly. "I have not gotten that far with it yet. But," His gaze grew sharp as he turned into his smoky black for and hovered around the giant man. "Imagine I could put my hold smoky hand down your throat, make it solid and choke you from the inside or do something far….worse."

By now, that man was freaking out. _This kid, he may look like the Yellow Flash, but even he was not that crazy. He just gave you a quick death, his son is a little sadistic!_ He Kengen was so freaked out by this that he never even noticed Naruto's group.

"Oh and there is something you need to know before you die." Naruto whispered.

"What's that?"

"Do you honestly think I travel alone?"

Realization hit the man too late it seemed because just as he figured out that even though Naruto could not attack while in his smoke form, that didn't mean someone else couldn't.

"**Nitro Kunai!"**

"**Crystal Spears!"**

Two voices shouted out as the ice penetrated his feet, ground him to the ground while the pink crystals pierced his shoulders, making his arms useless. Three kids had outsmarted him….that was so uncool. However, he didn't get much time to contemplate this as a fourth person made their presence known in the form of Tsunade. "Oh fu-" was all he could let out as Tsunade punched him so hard, his insides exploded from the force.

"Bunch of idiotic dunder head back then as well." Tsunade growled before she turned to Naruto and the girl. "Good job, Naruto. Let me see if she is ok." Naruto nodded and let the older woman take over. Tsunade examined the girl and smiled. "Good, only minor cuts and bruises, but a little head trauma from that man. Good."

"Granndy Tsunade, who is she anyway?"

"Stop calling me that!" Tsunade snapped. "She is The Tsuchikage granddaughter, weren't you listening?"

"Not really." Naruto answer point blank, making everyone face vault. "but if that's the case, we need to get her back to Iwa, heh, good thing we were headed there."

"Indeed." A man said as he appeared next to them. He was wearing Iwa's ANBU armor and his mask was that of a Grisly Bear.

Naruto blinked for a moment before he said, "Oh right, Tengen's attack was basically a beacon."

"True and when we arrived, you seemed to be able to take care of yourself along with Kurotsuchi-sama, so we held back to see how good you were. Not sure if the Oof here heard you, but to have Real Genjutsu of that level from only a few days and a few hundred shadow clones I assume, that is pretty impressive."

"Heh, thanks." Naruto said with a goofy smile. "So are you here to help us take her to the hospital?"

"Yes, my team will do that, I will personally take you to the Tsuchikage so no problems arise from this incident." The man said curtly. "What of her team?"

"We found them killed." Tsunade replied sadly.

"I see, Onoki-sama will not be please about this, but he will be grateful for you helping Kurotsuchi out." Bear replied.

"Aright then. Let's get going." Guren stated.

XXX

Onoki was an old man, yes, but he was a living legend just like Hiruzen Sarutobi. He went toe to toe with Madara Uchiha and lived. So as he stared out on the group before him, his mind wandered over to the past when he observed Naruto.

He had actually met with Minato at one point and found that the man HATED war, and only fought it because that was his duty. The more he learned about that man, the more he respected Minato, that's why he did not hold a grudge against Minato or Konoha. War was war, it never changes.

Naruto looked at the old man with annoyance. _Why are all the all the powerful dudes old. Old man Sarutobi was old and he was labeled the God of Shinobi, and this guy is old and short...great._

Ōnoki was a very short, old man with a triangular beard and a moustache that has angular corners, a big red nose and thick eyebrows like Gai and Lee. The top of his head was completely bald, although, he had long white hair on the lower-half of his head which is styled in a traditional chonmage hair cut, the back of which is tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. Ōnoki wore a green and yellow coat with a red collar. Underneath he wore the traditional Iwagakure outfit consistent of flak jacket, mesh armour. He however has both his sleeves of his shirt, but kept the single lapel on his right side. Along with this he wears sandals.

"First off, thank you for saving my granddaughter, but I want to know WHY you are in my village, though I did not expect to see Tsunade and her apprentice with you." Onoki stated.

"Kid helped me out, so I am sticking with him." Tsunade smirked.

"I see, but why are you here?" Onoki asked.

"Oh, since our teacher is dead and Shizune-nee-chan will be having a a kid, I thought we should join a village so we are not caught off guard with the world events."

"Hmph. Smart for young people." Onoki commented in his condescending way. "But why my village?"

"Well, I am not going back to Konoha, that's for sure and I am sure you know the reason behind that." At the old man's nod, Naruto continued. "Then after what happened with Zabuza, we don't plan on going to Kiri, Suna is too far away….same for Kumo. Besides, Tsunade said you did not hold a grudge against my father…so I was hoping you would help out."

Onoki started at the young blond intently. It was true that he told Tsunade that, but there was another reason behind that. War….war was horrible and it was true that he lost his daughter, but ironically it was not to the Yellow Flash or anyone in Konoha….it was through a different village during that war.

Onoki finally nodded. "Very well. I shall let you become ninja of my village….but what about you Tsunade?"

"I already vowed I would never return to Konoha and I will not now especially with a civil war on the horizon. I will join too, just to piss them off more for what they did to my godson." Tsunade said seriously.

"Very well." Onoki replied before he looked at all of them. He knew of Tsunade's skill with medical jutsu and perhaps he could let her do what Sarutobi did not….and her apprentice could help her out until the baby of Zabuza came. Oh yeah, even he could guess that. Then there was Zabuza's own apprentices….

He knew of the Yuki Clan's bloodline and always thought it was useful, but this boy seemed more capable of a shinobi than any of his clan that he had met. Guren's clan used to be part of his village before the First decided he didn't like that for some reason and cast them out. He would let them back in just to spite that man. Plus, that bloodline could be useful. Then there was Naruto…the boy people having nicknaming the Grim Reaper. Powers unlike any other and jinchuriki that seems to get along with his Bijuu.

Jinchuriki…he already had two of those. One was….an old friend, who at times was just as stubborn as him. But for some reason, the Roshi liked to drink a lot. There was other things, but Onoki could tell the man was good…and a loyal shinobi. The other was a young man, that was extremely tall. Han was always so calm and reserved. The boy was interesting, once saying that because his Bijuu, he felt insecure with himself around normal people, to the village did not have a problem with him.

Now was Naruto, jinchuriki to the Kyuubi. This boy was the Yondaime Hokage's son and Konoha basically treated him poorly. Feh, so much for the greatest village around, treating people different than you poorly, but whatever. Sure, the village he ran was a little greedy but they live out in the middle of nowhere, what did you expect? Still, this boy was different and his death powers made him an interesting jinchuriki if the rumors were any indication.

"I will need to place you all in something for my village." Onoki stated. "Tsunade, I am going to let you do the one thing that Sarutobi never let you do during the war….something we could have used. I give you free reign over the hospital and if you wish to train people in the medical arts, then just let me know and I will see what I can do."

Tsunade had a big smile on her face at that. "Thank you."

"Just let me know what you are getting too old for it." Onoki replied with a snarky smirk, causing the woman's eyebrow to twitch. "Shizune, for the time being, I would like for you to help Tsunade in this endeavor." At the raven haired woman's nod, he continued. He looked at the three young ninja and sighed. "I am going to have to break you up into two teams."

"Huh? Why?" Guren asked while holding Naruto back from shouting, but she wanted to shout that their team would have to break up. However, she was not stupid enough to yell at a Kage.

"Simple, Kengen was not alone. For some reason, a few of our missing ninja have returned just to kill us….my granddaughter's team is dead and another team has lost a member of their team. So that is why I am doing this, but don't worry, you all we be working together a lot."

"Oh, that good then." Haku replied with a relieved smile.

"Ok, Akatsuchi's team is missing one, so Guren I would like for you to join his team. Your Crystal Release will work well with his Golem Technique. Plus, I bet Suzumebachi would love to have another girl on the team. I'll have you report to them later."

"Interesting set up." Tsunade stated. "A bee user with two earth users. I could work."

"Indeed." Onoki said, proud of himself. He then stared hard at Naruto and Haku. "I am going to give this one more chance….so don't fuck this up for me." At the boys' questioning look, he continued, " I once had an apprentice in a man named Deidara, but he let his…'art' get the better of him and went rogue. He was a good student, but he left. Kurotsuchi might not like this, but I am taking you three at my team, my personal apprentices."

Everyone just stared at the man with big eyes.

Is it possible that they were the next Sannin?

XXX

"Wow," Naruto said as he stared at the ceiling of Kurotsuchi's hospital room. The small old man had sent them there to let her know what his decision was when she woke up. She hasn't yet.

"I know, hard to believe." Haku replied, a little shell shocked himself.

"We'll do our best." Naruto replied with determination. "Zabuza trained us into the ground for this sort of thing. Now we must get even stronger for him and our friends."

"For Zabuza's unborn child." Haku replied with a small smile and a nod. He then thought of something. "Naruto, me and Guren changed a bit when Zabuza died. What about you, you still seem the same. The same idiot who just wants to keep us safe."

Naruto sighed. "I did change a bit, I gained more power."

"Huh?"

"It was just before Fu left. She knew I was holding something back and helped me through it and after that, Kurama confirmed that something had changed. My Sharingan is now unlocked to what Itachi did to me."

"Oh? Let me see." Haku stated, clearly curious about Naruto's Kyuubi enhanced Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He remembered the story, but was still hard to believe for him. If it was indeed real, that he would believe it.

"Alright." Naruto said with a shrug. He closed his eyes in concentration before he snapped them over to reveal the strange design of the 7 pointed shuriken design with Kakashi's pinwheel, however, the odd thing about it was that it was glowing thanks to the Kyuubi's power.

"Wow…." Came a voice that spoke for Haku. They looked over to see that Kurotsuchi was awake and staring at Naruto's changed eyes. "Those are interesting."

"Yeah, how I got them is a long story." Naruto replied sheepishly before he deactivated them and struck out his hand. "But I am not, I am Naruto Uzumak, nice to meet you."

The girl took the hand and shook it a bit weakly. However, she did smile. "Nice to meet you too. I am Kurotsuchi. I am guessing you guys were the ones to save me."

"Yeah, it was me, Haku here, then Guren, Tsunade and Shizune." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Wait, Tsunade-sama is here as well?!" the girl almost yelled.

"Yes?" Haku stated. "I am guessing you are a fan?"

"You bet! She IS the strongest woman around, so I look up to her as much as Deidara-nii." Kurotsuchi replied.

"Cool. She up and joined us in joining your village. Now she is head of everything medical." Naruto replied.

Haku sighed. "You need to work on your listen skills more. She is head of the hospital and in charge of training new med-nins."

"Isn't that what I said?" Naruto asked, looking a bit lost.

"Ugh…." Haku sighed.

Kurotsuchi took this time to laugh at them, "You guys act just like brothers, you know that?"

"So we've been told." Haku replied with a smile. "Oh, there was something we need to tell you."

"That my team is dead?" Kurotsuchi said, making the atmosphere in the room a little tense. "I know, I saw them die before my eyes. It was so horrible….but, when I was out, I felt like I had a vivid dream about them. Tell told me that since their killer was dead and they could pass up, but also told me to live my life. I will do that for them, but they were my friends, so I will treasure the time I had with them."

"Huh, I have only read about those experiences." Haku replied. "I am going to assume that one of your old teammates had a deep spiritual connection…or something like that?"

The girl actually laughed at that. "Yeah, you could say something like that. My teacher, despite being an old member of the explosion corp. was a very spiritual person…something he went over bored with a lot." She paused at that and continued with teary eyes. "I am going to miss him…"

"We miss out teacher as well." Naruto replied softly as he sat down next to her. "before coming here, our teacher, Zabuza was killed. So we can relate."

"I see. Thank you." Kurotsuchi replied. "So…I am guessing the old man got me a new team?"

Naruto burst out laughing at the girls bluntness. Haku shook his head with a smile. _Oh yeah, her and Naruto will get along fine._

"Yeah, he set up a two new teams. One of our own, Guren Lagan, is on a team with…um….who where they again?"

Haku sighed. "Akatsuchi and Suzumebachi."

"Oh right, they lost someone too. I hope they get along." The bedridden girl replied.

"And the three of us are a new team." Naruto replied, not missing a beat.

"Really?" Kurotsuchi asked with wide eyes. She was not complaining, they seemed strong enough. "Who is our sensei?"

"Your grandfather." Haku replied.

Kurotsuchi stared at them for a long time at that before a small but sad smile crossed her lips. "I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"I always wanted him to teach me, but then I would be taking Deidara-nii's place. I wanted to be his student, but then I did not want to….make sense?"

"Sort of." Naruto said, somewhat getting it.

Kurotsuchi laughed. "It is complicated, but I am glad. I hope we get along."

"Me too!" Naruto said with a big smile as he shook her hand.

While Naruto's eyes where closed in that big smile of his, Haku had noticed that Kurotsuchi was blushing a bit towards Naruto. _So, you too huh? Heh, Naruto doesn't even realize it yet. Still, I guess him saving her and triggered an interest in him…I wonder where that goes…or when he will notice…_

Kurotsuchi turned her attention to Haku and smiled, making the boy smile at as well. "Oh! Hey, don't tell me grandfather this yet, I want to tell him myself."

"What would that be?" Haku asked.

"A little something that Gari-Sensei taught me." Kurotsuchi replied with a smirk, making Haku sweet a little.

XXX

A few days later, the three of them in front of the Tsuchikage's desk as he stared at them. "We have a lot to do in the next month. We have a lot of training and we will be dealing with these missing ninja ourselves, no more deaths because of these fools." Onoki stated.

"Why, what happens in a month?" Kurotsuchi asked.

Onoki gained a gleam in his eye, "It was for this reason that you are all still genin. The Chunin exams happen next month and you team, along with Guren's will be entering. However, this is not a normal exam. It will be held in the Land of Iron this time, something that does not happen very often."

"Huh…I wonder why Mifune wanted to do that this year." Naruto wondered aloud, making Onoki and Haku give him deadpanned looks.

"In any event, you will be ready for this exams because the exams held there are much harder than anywhere else, that I can assure you."

"Yes sensei." The three shouted, making Onoki gain another gleam in his eye that Kurotsuchi found herself shivering at. This next month was going to be filled with pain…

"Oh yes, Naruto, i have something for you. After all, what is a Grim Reaper with out his cloak." Onoki stated as he tossed an article of clothing at the blond. It was a pure black cloak that could zip up and looked like something the real Grim Reaper would wear, plus...it had the village symbol on the back of it in silver.

"Nice." Naruto replied with a smirk.

XXXXXX

**Well there you all go. The next chapter for this. Now, I am in need of your help. You see, next chapter they will be dealing with missing ninja. Now if anyone can give me Iwa related missing ninja, that would be great. Also, I need an idea for who would be Guren's team leader. Plus, i know the wiki said that Gari was a very calm guy, but to me, that sounded like how he was in battle, it never said anything for outside of battle...heh.  
**

**So let me know in your reviews or PM me please tell me if there are a great number of mistake to this so that i can fix that.  
**

**REVIEW! Seriously….i am feeding of that shit…lol**


	11. Going out with a Bang

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 11**

**Well, my computer died, so I am doing this from the library. So I guess it is not so bad that Christmas is near, because with the money I will get, I will be getting a new computer! Good thing I saved all my stories on a flash drive. **

**Now I wanna cry…for two reasons. One is the show Shuffle… though it was just going to be a perverted harem cliché, but it has a great story and is very emotional. The other thing is, did Kishimoto really kill off Neji? The hell!**

It had been two weeks since Onoki took on a new team and he couldn't be prouder of the genin. His granddaughter was at the level he hoped she'd be when he took her on. Now she was just as strong as her teammates. However, he was surprised and slightly miffed that she had learned to use Explosion Release.

_Flashback!_

"I am sorry, what was that again?" Onoki asked, disbelieving.

"Grandpa, I learned how to use Explosion Release from Gari-sensei just before he died. I know how you don't like it much because of Deidara-nii, but I will use it to make this team great. And I will not leave like Deidara-nii did." Kurotsuchi stated with a hard stare at the old man.

Onoki stared at the girl for a few minutes before sighing. "Since you are family, I know how stubborn you will be with this. Very well, I will believe in you, just don't let this chance go to waste."

Kurotsuchi's gaze softened at that. She knew how Deidara's defection hurt him, but she would not let him down. "Ok then. And um…Gari-Sensei only taught me a few things, could you help me?"

Onoki smiled. "Of course I can. I happen to have the Explosion Release scroll with me. Just know that you can't do all that Deidara did since his bloodline helped him with these jutsu."

"I won't let you down!" Kurotsuchi cheered happily.

_End Flashback!_

She had taken well to that line of jutsu just as she had with the other unique jutsu in the form of Lava Release, something he found when he was in Kiri that one time, occasionally using both in one jutsu.

He was proud of her. However, he did find something comical about her. It seemed that she had gained a crush on her blond teammate, Naruto. Of course said boy was clueless, something Haku confirmed. Still, it was odd because they treated each other like brother and sister. Now he did not mind that they would become a couple. He was a grandfather already! He would leave the scare tactics to his son.

Still, all they needed was a little push for it to work and he knew something like that was going to happen soon. It was just a feeling had had when he thought of the Chunin Exams.

Speaking of Naruto, he could honestly say that the boy was his best student. He soaked up everything he had like a sponge! And it was all thanks to those shadow clones of his. To have so much chakra like that, it was a gift…and a burden because he skills in genjutsu were shit. But the only reason he could do genjutsu in the first place was because of those eyes and that Demon Eye jewel that he had on his palm.

However, when he did use his special genjutsu, Onoki swore that Naruto lost his mind every time. Oh well, shinobi were never the sanest bunch to begin with. Still Naruto's powers with his elements were amazing as well. He was able to combine them but only for a short time, so he really didn't have many sub-elemental jutsu as of yet.

Then of course were his strange Death justu that he was not touching with a ten foot pole. Call it anold man paranoia, but he didn't fancy dealing with Death just yet.

After that, his status as a jinchuriki was baffling! He showed next to no signs of being one and could use the chakra of the Kyuubi easily enough. He was still young though, so he could not use a lot. The people didn't even bat an eyelash at him either. It seemed that whatever seal the 4th Hokage put on the boy also snuffed out that oppressive atmosphere that comes with being a jinchuriki. That or the boy had enough of that in Konoha and it negated itself. Whatever. Still, he got along with Han and Roshi well enough, that was good enough for him.

Finally was Haku. Yet another gold mine. The boy had Ice Release and Swift Release. Those two were exceedingly rare. The boy was also very calm and level -headed, something that Naruto and Kurotsuchi needed. Plus, the boy was also able to summon strange ice creatures from that mask of his.

Yes, his team was something else.

However, Onoki frowned as he sat at his desk. The reason was troubling news throughout the world. Kiri with their stupid Bloodline War and Konoha with their impending civil war. It was madness! Still, it seemed that Konoha had stalled so they could send out a few teams for the Chunin Exams.

Then, there was the matter of Danzo. He was being quiet, almost too quiet. Onoki shared Sarutobi's views on the man, he was a war hawk and nothing else. There should be no reason for that man to stay this silent. Onoki honestly thought that Danzo would be happily pissing in his adult sized diapers to be in another war. Especially this kind of war, where he could sneak his way to being the Hokage. And if that ever happened, the world would be in a lot of shit.

He didn't get any more time to contemplate this as his team entered his office.

"Yo, old man, what do you have for us this time?" Naruto questioned once they were all in, before Haku slapped him upside the head while Kurotsuchi laughed.

Ah yes, Naruto's constant disrespect. To be honest, he should be used to that by now, but it was too fun watching this team and their antics. Plus, he usually got that from his granddaughter, always claiming that he needed to step down and choose someone else to lead. _Like that will happen anytime soon. I am just as old as Sarutobi dammit! I will not give it up before him!_

"Well then, let's get started shall we?" Onoki stated. "Through your combined efforts with my son-in-law's team, you were able to take down the Collector and his partner the Huntress. This next one will be a little harder. There is a town not far from here being tormented by one of Deidara's cousins. I warn you, this will not be easy, the man is truly insane and he wields the Clay Release."

"I am not sure I have heard about that one yet." Haku replied. "What makes him dangerous?"

"It stems from his obsession. He wanted to be an actor but his parents said no, so he took that obsession into his ninja career and it spiraled out of control. He can be anyone he desires thanks to his bloodline and he takes that to heart. This will not be easy." Onoki warned.

"Will you be coming with us old man?" Kuro asked.

"No, but I will have Jibachi Kamizuru there with you. His skills should be good enough for this." Onoki stated. The three genin nodded before leaving the room to get ready.

Do you really think they can find him, let alone beat him?" A smart looking man with blondish hair in a slick style said as he came out of the shadows.

Onoki sighed. "Honestly, no. The scroll I gave them is for a week only. If they actually find him in Atsuen Ishi, I will be surprised. Still, it does not matter how they do on this mission or the Chunin Exams, I will still promote them to Chunin. Their skills have earned them that much."

"Very well, I will help them when needed then." Jibachi replied before he disappeared in a bee shunshin.

XXX

The group of four found themselves just outside the village of Atsuen Ishi. However, what they found was unexpected. It seemed that they came in time for a festival of sorts. This was going to make it harder for them.

"I am getting the feeling the old man wanted us out of his non-existent hair for a while." Naruto dead panned.

"That could be a possibility." Kurotsuchi replied thoughtfully. "Think we should have fun?"

"Well, that is one way to put it." Haku stated. "Having fun at a festival would be a great cover for if we do find Hataraku Nendoshitsu."

"Very true and I will provide assistance of my own when needed." Jibachi stated as he glanced at Naruto appraisingly. After all, the boy hadhelped his clan get back on track.

_Flashback!_

Jibachi looked bewildered at his younger clan member Suzumebachi. She was not acting like her normal self; she seemed more serious about something.

"Suzume-chan, what has gotten into you lately?" Jibachi asked as he watched her practice her bee techniques with more vigor than usual.

"Well brother, I figured something out with the new guy's help." Suzumebachi replied.

"And that would be?"

"In order for us to regain our honor, we need to stop bitching about things not going our way. We just have to keep working our way back to the top. If grandfather could do it, so can we!"

"And what brought this about?" Jibachi asked. He was the calmest of his family and he knew it, but his younger siblings just didn't seem to get it….until now.

"Naruto Uzumaki, that idiot gave me some great advice on our last mission. He is a good guy though and I think I can put my faith in him." Suzumebachi replied with a small blush. His words really did get through to her.

Jibachi quirked an eyebrow at this before smiling softly. "You have made a good friend then,; it is exactly what we need to do."

_Flashback End!_

"So! What are we waiting for? Let's get on this festival band wagon!" Naruto cheered.

"Yeah! Let's go Naruto-kun!" Kurotsuchi said before she grabbed his arm and dragged the boy into the village.

"They…. completely ignored me didn't they?" Haku asked.

"Possibly." Jibachi said as they followed the duo in. He looked at Haku and said, "It would seem that Kurotsuchi is very fond of Naruto."

"Yeah, he saved her and treats her with respect and like a normal girl despite her position in the village. However, Naruto is clueless like usual."

"Hmm, so it would seem. Still that does make it hard."

"Hard for what?" Haku asked curiously.

"For me to set up him and my sister." Jibachi replied without missing a beat.

Haku nearly tripped over himself. "Yeah, I agree." Maybe he should tell the man about the other competition?

XXX

The duo of Naruto and Kurotsuchi found a small both where you try and throw a ring on the tops of bottles. "Oh! Let's do this one!" Kurotsuchi cheerfully. "Excuse me! We would like to play this game!" she called to the keeper.

Said keeper looked to be a middle aged man that wore referee costume. He looked at them in surprise for a moment before he came over to them with a kind smile on his face. "My, I have not seen you two here. This is a small town, so everyone knows each other. You here for the festival?"

"Yes!" Kurotsuchi replied calmly, however, she did take note of the way he was looking at them. He seemed to be sizing them up. Why?

"Then let's get this game on the way my girl. Is your boyfriend playing for you or are you?"

Naruto looked at her and he saw that she actually wanted to play despite the blush on both of their faces, so he gestured for her to play. They didn't bother correcting the man since this happened a lot and they didn't mind it. The man gave her the rings needed to play and she began the game. The blond watched her throw the first one before turning his attention back to the old man.

"So, anything odd go on around here? Like other new people you haven't seen come through there?' Naruto asked.

"Oh all kinds of things go on here kid. Like I said, it is a small town. Anyone you are looking for in particular?"

"Yeah, we are looking for someone from our village. Someone named, Hataraku Nendoshitsu."

It was strange. The man seemed to freeze up for a moment before becoming nervous. "Sorry, I have not seen him in a while."

"Oh, so you have seen him. Any idea where he could be then?" Naruto asked.

"You know what?" the old man said as Kurotsuchi threw her last ring. " Forget I said anything, I have never heard of him. Take the grand prize and leave."

"But!" Kurotsuchi tried saying that she had not won the correct prize, but the man didn't want to hear it.

"JUST LEAVE!" the man shouted as he shoved a big stuffed lion into Naruto's arms and shoved them away.

"That was weird…" Kurotsuchi replied in a calm yet suspicious tone.

"Yeah, let's go find the others, they might have found something." Naruto said seriously while Kurotsuchi nodded.

XXX

The three met at a hotel of sorts and sat in the lobby. "Please tell me you two found something." Naruto said.

"Yes, whenever we spoke Hataraku's name, everyone suddenly became hostile and their stories didn't flow right. They said they haven't seen him in a while and they never even heard of him before telling us to go away." Haku replied.

"You too, huh?" Kuro sighed.

"There's more." Jibachi replied calmly. "Bee's have picked up a couple of odd things. One is that they smell clay all over the place, mostly in the humans. The other is that they sense a very strong genjutsu over this town."

"That is not a good sign." Kurotsuchi sighed.

"Agreed. I feel as though we have walked into a trap." Haku replied while slapping his face.

"Well, no worries. We just need to leave to avoid whatever death trap he has in store for us." Naruto suggested.

Naruto suggesting to leave was actually pretty smart for him, but there was a problem. Could they get out unnoticed? _Probably not, but if Hataraku has gotten this good with Clay Release, then we are in over our heads. I am sure Onoki-sama will understand._ Jibachi reasoned. "Very well, let's go before it is too late."

"Excuse me, but you're the ninja from Iwagakure, correct?" a well-dressed man asked,looking like an employee at the hotel.

"Yeah…" Kurotsuchi answered calmly. "What do you need?"

"There seems to be a young boy outside that requires your presence."

Now that was new, but they were still cautious. So they went all together to see what the kid wanted. What they found was some homeless -looking kid. His brown clothes looked more like rags than anything else. He also looked very dirty.

"C-can you h-help me?" he cried.

Kurotsuchi was the one to speak again. She was feeling for this kid. She wanted to help him despite the danger of this place. The others looked at each other and sighed. They knew there was no backing out now. Jibachi though felt hat something was off and his bee's where buzzing loudly in his ear.

"What can we do for you little boy?" Kurotsuchi asked kindly.

"W-why?"

"Why what?"

"W-why are you s-searching for our f-father?" the boy cried.

"Our father?" Jibachi asked before he realized that all the townspeople had stopped moving and were staring at them with unnatural gazes.

"Yes, our father." The boy repeated with not whining in his voice this time. Jibachi looked back down to the boy to seem him glaring at them and Kurotsuchi feeling the full effects of Hataraku's killer intent from the little boy.

Before Jibachi could react, the boy's form shifted and hit him so hard that it sent him flying away from his assigned team. The only thing that went through his mind was._ Damn, I should have seen this coming!_

_Fast!_ Was what went through the three genin's' minds.

"You should not have come." a voice echo though out the village, but on closer inspection, it was coming from the people! One voice. "I know why you have come, I am just surprised that old fool found me and sent a bunch of kids to do the dirty work of Hunter nins!"

"Honestly, I thought we wouldn't find you." Naruto growled out, tired of being mocked already and on guard.

"Well, too bad for you fools! You found me and I will add you to my collection!" the voice yelled out gleefully.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Haku asked.

"It is simple." The voice said scathingly. "Each person you see is a clone of me. They represent each and every person I studied and then took out of the picture. One by one, they all disappeared, none the wiser that their way of life was ending! I am them now!"

"I get it now." Kurotsuchi replied angrily. "You wanted a challenge!"

"YES! I AM THE TOWN! The ultimate challenge: being everyone at once! And I will not stop there, with each new person, I will become bigger! I WILL TRULY BE EVERYONE! And you kiddies can't stop me!"

"We'll see about that!" Naruto yelled, already not liking this psychopath.

"He has gone far beyond what he used to be back in the village." Kurotsuchi replied. "We have to be careful!"

"Agreed, but how are we supposed to fight off a bunch of clones!" Haku asked. Naruto and Kurotsuchi looked at Haku like he had gone dumb. "Oh…right."

"ENOUGH TALK! Let's fight!" The voice yelled and as soon as the genjutsu fell to reveal the town to actually be in ruins and the people looked clay-like. The group didn't get a chance to say anything else as the masses rushed them.

Naruto created his own clones to do battle. Some took out their Claws of Hades and some took out the scythe while he did something completely different. "Heh, time to bring out the gifts from Mifune!" The blond's metal arm opened up to reveal an aegis like shield and then came out the claws. Naruto was having fun taking out his share of clay clones.

Haku decided to take a more subtle approach versus Naruto's hacking and slashing. The Silent Killing method. Putting on his new mask, its effects came on quickly as he turned invisible. After that, he made his battle field into a frozen tundra. Yes, this method was a lot more quiet.

Kurotsuchi grew ticked off at the mass of clones in a hurry. "Ugh!** Lava Style: Mass Quicklime Congealing!"**__Itf was safe to say that her enemies went down quickly, but like Naruto's clones, they kept on coming. So it was at this point that she used her version of the exploding release. "**Explosion Style: Exploding Shockwave!" ** She clapped her hands and a yellow energy exploded outward, before connecting with every clone in her range, making them easily explode.

While that gave her an idea, she didn't get to act on it because everything went silent. That was when the voice spoke again. "Ah yes, so you are Kurotsuchi, Deidara-sempai's little friend. Oh this will be fun! Fine, I will show you why I left. I found the forbidden jutsu that let me take away people's chakra before they die. How do you think I kept this place running! I have the chakra of a tailed beast now! Therefore, I have acquired my own tailed form! Oh how I love playing those misunderstood people! AHAHAHA!"

The small group by then had already regrouped and were shocked at what the man said. Before they could react any further, the ground shook before all the broken pieces of clay started moving and then converged onto one spot.

The mass took on the shape of a large clay slime -based monster. "Too bad this form is not more human…it would be so much easier to kill you three! HA!" Hataraku shouted before he brought a fist down on the ground.

"Ugh! How are we supposed to beat this guy?" Kurotsuchi shouted as they dodged another punch.

"Well, I doubt we can do the same thing we did during your battle with Shukaku." Haku stated.

"Nope! But let's just go all out!" Naruto shouted. "**Summoning Jutsu: Envy: Green Dragon form!"** (Watch FMA: Conqueror's of Shamballa and you'll know what I am talking about).

"Well! This is new!" Hataraku roared before he charged the dragon.

"Well then, let's do this!" Haku agreed before he took off his mask and sent chakra to it. "**Special Summoning Jutsu: Yuki-Onna!"** Five beautiful snow ladies appeared and sent a caring smile towards Haku's direction.

"Oh, so that's the summoning jutsu you were talking about." Kurotsuchi stated as she watched the dragon send fire at the clay man while the five Yuki-Onna sent streams of high powered ice.

"You can't beat me like this! I'll just reform every time!" Hataraku shouted in annoyance. And you kiddies will run out of chakra before I do!"

"He's right." Kurotsuchi replied sadly before she remembered what she did before. "Haku! Tell your friends to freeze him in place. I have a plan!"

"Right!"

"What IS your plan?" Naruto asked.

"I am going to use a special jutsu Deidara-nii taught me. I will make him explode, incinerating all of him!" Kurotsuchi explained.

"Oh…Wait! How will you survive the explosion? As a matter of fact, how will we survive?" Naruto panicked.

"Simple, I create a clone with more than half my chakra to pull this off and then we all run for it!" Kurotsuchi stated.

"That is a good plan." Haku said coming up to them. "My Snow ladies have him frozen. So let's go before he escapes!"

"Right! ** Shadow Clone Jutsu!" ** Kurotsuchi called out before she fell over some, but Naruto caught her.

"Got ya, just ride on my back so you can get your chakra back." Naruto offered. She blushed but did so anyway. As soon as that happened, they dispelled their summons before high tailing it out of there.

Near the edge of the town, the saw Jibachi waiting for them. "Hey, where are you…"

"Not time to explain, just run!" Naruto shouted as they ran past.

Jibachi grimly looked at the frozen clay form before running after his team. Whatever was going to happen, it was not good he reasoned.

He was right.

As soon as Hataraku broke free, the only person he saw was the girl. "Well! Facing me alone? How unwise."

"This is something only I can do!' The Kurotsuchi clone called out as she ran up the clay man's body and stopped at his face. Hataraku was feeling generous since her team left her. So he let her have the first 'strike'.

"And what will you do little girl?" He said mockingly.

"Just a jutsu a friend taught me." Kurotsuchi replied with a smirk as hes fist started to glow. "And please remember….Art is a bang!"

"WHAT!?" Hataraku screamed, instantly knowing that something was wrong.

"**Explosion Style: Exploding Clay Jutsu!"** Once her fist hit, it was like a nuke going off. The creature's body glowed for a moment before all hell broke loose.

XXXX

"HOLY SHIT!" Jibachi screamed as the resulting shockwave bowled them over. Normally, he was more reserved than this, but this mission had been a huge crap shoot that he had lost most of his composure during it. This was just the last straw for him.

Weakly trying to get back up, Naruto found that he was now under Kurotsuchi, so naturally that made him blush. She looked so vulnerable on top of him that he found her quite cute. She looked down at him after a moment of silence. With a blush of her own, she smiled and said, "We did it!"

"Yeah…you did." Naruto replied as he hugged her close. Kurotsuchi didn't know what to say to that, so she just hugged him back before they both fell unconscious.

Haku took one look at the resulting mushroom cloud, then at Naruto and Kurotsuchi's position, then back at the cloud before he just slumped against the tree he landed near. "Give me a break. We are so boned!"

"Aye, we will have some explaining to do." Jibachi muttered exhausted as he plopped down next to the ice user before they too fell asleep.

XXX

**Well, there you go, the next chapter is done. Give some more background to the characters. I thought about adding an omake or a flashback to show how Hataraku knew Deidara…but I thought better of it. It just felt redundant.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	12. Trouble Before the Exams Even Start

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 12**

**Well, I was going to put in another filler chapter, but I thought better of it. Just seemed annoying to me. So, onto the next arc….the Chunin Exams in Iron Country!**

Onoki stared at his new students from behind his desk with a blank face. These kids were something else. There weren't many, but they managed to take down all of their pathetic missing ninja that wanted to cause problems for his village.

Now they were ready for anything that came there way. Hopefully the Chunin Exams in Iron Country will provide them more experience that they needed.

Hopefully for him, they didn't end up destroying the place like with that one village. He didn't remember name anymore because these idiots blew it off the map!

_Flashback!_

Onoki stared at the mushroom cloud that he sent his team to in utter shock. "What the hell did they do this time!" He raged.

XXX

"So, what you are saying is that Hataraku basically transformed that town into his sick image of clay and posed as all the towns' people? And with that forbidden jutsu to do it?" Onoki asked the beaten up looking kids and their temporary team leader. With everyone nodding, the old man sighed before tears started falling from his face. "I am going to have so much paperwork for this!"

The group just stared at him in pity.

_End Flashback!_

"In a few days, you and another team will be taking the Chunin Exam in Iron Country. I hope you are ready for this. Especially since it is in Iron Country. The Exams are almost never there and when it is, it is usually pretty difficult."

"Anything we should know?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yes, there are only two parts to this. They don't do the paper exam that Konoha has and from what I have seen, you don't need it." Onoki stated.

"Well, that's good, we don't need Naruto to blow a fuse." Haku replied with smirk.

"Oh ha girly boy." Naruto deadpanned.

"Enough you two." Kurotsuchi stated in a sickly sweet voice that sent shivers down their spines. "So, when do we leave old man?"

"You leave tomorrow." Onoki replied, "You may want to pack now while you have the chance. Dismissed….well except Naruto because I have to speak with him." Haku and Kurotsuchi exchanged a glance but said nothing as they nodded and left.

"What did you need me for old man?" Naruto asked seriously. After all, the old kage didn't speak to you in private for nothing.

"In the near future, you will be making difficult choices involving your future." Onoki started. "You are my prize student and so, it makes you very desirable to certain groups. What I want you to decide in the future is this. Do you want to join a special group like ANBU or the others in my village, or are you up to the task of creating your own group?"

"Why are you asking me this now?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused.

Onoki sighed. "To tell you the truth, I gave Deidara the same option once upon a time and he created the Explosion Corp. It went well for a while until he went nuts. The reason I am asking this is because….like Deidara, I see you as a potential candidate for the position of Tsuchikage."

"Huh!? Why me, why not your granddaughter?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Onoki smiled sadly. "For the same reason I had not given the position to my daughter before she died in the last war. For the simple reason, no the rule set forth by the 1st Tsuchikage. One cannot give the position to their family members and I am not sure Kurotsuchi's father is up to the task, plus he has never been that interested anyway."

"I see, but why me?"

"I am getting old Naruto, I may not have much time left and with you three as my last students, it has given me happiness, but out of the three, you hold the most potential. Kurotsuchi is a family member, so that is out the window. Haku is level headed yes, but lacks the potential and power you do. So with them as your future advisors, I feel that with my training and their support, you will make a fine Tsuchikage.

"O…k." Naruto said, not sure how to respond to all of this.

"Naruto there is no need to respond for this right now, but I will tell you two other things. If you decide to make a group, you will need members and I have a feeling that not all in the villaqge will join, so you should be on the lookout for people on the road that could fit the bill. The other thing is…how should I say this? I am setting up alliances with other villages, but they won't become official until after the Exams."

"Ok, so why are you telling me that." Naruto asked, not understanding.

"Lately there has been a popular method to alliances. Some do plain old treaties while others do….political marriages to strength those treaties." Onoki stated with an emotionless face, looking at Naruto's confused face that was starting to understand. "I am too old to get remarried, my son, again, has no interest, and I don't feel comfortable making Kurotsuchi do this. So I again looked to you since you will probably try and revive your clan here….same with Haku,but he has Guren and that girl can be freaking scary when pissed."

"I see, but that is a bit much!" Naruto said with a red face.

"True, but you and Kurotsuchi already have a thing going on, so this course could be advantageous." It was then Onoki saw that Naruto was not even looking at him. Was the boy really that dense? "Oh come on, you are not together yet."

"Well…" Naruto began, getting a groan from his leader. "I am not sure if she feels the same way. But…maybe I'll find out during the exams. By the way, how many villages are we talking if you are going to do this?"

Onoki gave Naruto, an 'are u stupid' look for the Kurotsuchi comment before sighing. "Honestly, I was going to try an alliance with Suna since they seem to be forgoing their treaty with Konoha due to you. I think the girl they will offer is someone name Temari." He smirked to himself when Naruto blushed. "Then for Kumo….i am not sure."

"I see. Well, I'll get back to you later on that then." Naruto said, still not sure what to say about all this. It was after all, a bit much to take in.

"Very well, I will see you in the Chunin Exam finals then, good luck." Onoki stated.

XXX – _In the Land of Iron_

"Man, this place has not changed…at all." Naruto deadpanned.

"What did you expect?" said Guren with smirk as the two teams entered the village where the chunin exams were being held.

All six genin were there to take the exam, Naruto, Haku, Kurotsuchi, Guren, Akatsuchi, and Suzumebachi were all ready for what lay ahead.

"So what should we do first?" Akatsuki asked.

"Well, it would advantageous if we get to our hotel now before the other teams get all the good rooms." said Haku.

"Heh, from what you told us, we might be already set up with the good rooms if Naruto is with us." Suzumebachi replied with smirk.

"You never know." Kurotsuchi replied, a little irked when she heard about Naruto's relationship with Mifune's daughter from Guren herself.

_Oh? Is someone pissed? Someone needs to make a move soon._ Guren thought with a smirk as they made their way through the snowy village of Iron Country.

As they walked, Naruto, Guren, and Haku noticed there were a lot more Samurai patrolling the streets. With young ninja around here to prove themselves, that means that fights could spring up at any moment and the samurai were ready for anything. Speaking of ninja, it seemed that they had already made it here as well.

_Of course some would already be here._ Naruto thought as he was instantly on guard. _ They probably left earlier than we did. Let's see what we have here. Some Kiri nins, which is odd, but I guess even they can afford to bring ninja here during a war. I don't see any Suna nins just yet._ Naruto then saw a few Kumo ninja, but they were already too far away to talk to. He would try and talk to them later, be friendly to future allies and all that. Now, that only left…

"NARUTO!"

…Konoha. Naruto brought up his hood, his long hair covering one of his eyes as he turned to look at the people he turned his back on, one once upon time. His teammates and friends backed him up, knowing what Konoha would try to do.

Looking at the person who called his name, he was treated with the sight of his old crush, Sakura Haruno. Next to her was Sasuke Uchiha, the emo looking a little brighter, but not much. Then there was their new teammate. He was deathly pale looking kid with jet black hair that was cut in a bowl like fashion. He was wearing a black shirt that stopped at his stomach, which show he was fully pale. He wore the standard black pants and black shinobi sandals. What was creepy about this kid is that he showed absolutely no emotion at all. However, Naruto saw the calculating gaze the boy was sending him and he didn't like it.

Next was Hinata Hyuuga's team. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino didn't even look like they had changed at all, but the looks they were giving him creeped him out a bit. Well…Shino's look was still neutral, the boy never showed any emotion as well. That, Naruto could deal with.

Last was Shikamaru's team. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji still looked that same well, but while lazy, except for Ino of course, they were giving him the same looks as well.

That look, it was the look that they knew what he was, who he was, and who his parents where. Like they didn't know how to react with him around now that they knew that information. But that look was combined with something else. Like they couldn't believe he was wearing something other than kill me orange.

It annoyed him to no end.

"What." was his simple response.

Of course they all looked a bit offended by that one word response. Sakura was the one to speak for all of them, although Ino looked ready to burst as well. "Is that all you can say after you ditched us you baka!" Sakura screamed with tears in her eyes as she acted on instinct and threw a punch to his face.

What happened next shocked all the ninja from Konoha. Naruto caught the punch with ease and an annoyed look on his face. However, it was the sound that got many quirking an eyebrow. It was the sound of flesh and bone hitting metal. Sakura grimaced in pain at the contact and tried to retract her fist, but Naruto's grip was to strong.

"No longer will I take a punch from you." Naruto said with anger in his voice. "I have had enough of being your whipping boy. Next time you try it, I will rip off your arm."

"So, you are different now without a mask to hide your true emotions." Sasuke stated grimly. This new tone Naruto was taking with them was dangerous for them, he need to tread lightly.

Shino picked up on Sasuke's thought process and nodded to himself before asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "Naruto, will you return to Konoha after the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto sent him a glare, but not much else. Despite only having one eye visible underneath that hood, it was still scary.

"W-we m-miss you." Hinata stuttered out.

Naruto sighed. He knew that some of his old classmates did accept him, but to him that was not enough. Not when the whole village hated and feared him for stupid things. Kurotsuchi saw Naruto was having a hard time with them and was going to intervene, but Naruto spoke again.

"No, I will not comeback." Naruto replied and before Kiba could retort. "I know what has happened since I left, hell the rest of the country knows." He paused at that in thought, wondering how word spread so quickly. "But still, I will not comeback. I will not come back to a place and hates a fears me. The only thing I hold against you all is that you never took the time to get to know the real me when you had the chance."

"But the village needs you." Choji injected.

Naruto saw the boy was just trying to be nice, like always, but he didn't see what Naruto saw. "No the village needs their icon and weapon back. I will not be that. Some may have changed their views on me, but not for the right reasons. They still see me as a demon and fear me for it, they also fear that when they die, they will have face my father's wrath. Nothing has really changed in Konoha, trust me."

"I suppose we can't change your mind, troublesome." Shikamaru stated with a sigh. "But please sate my own curiosity, what it with your arm?"

Naruto smirked darkly as he pulled up his sleeve to show them his all metal arm, making some gasp. "This is my metal arm."

"What the hell happened to make you get that?" Ino asked.

"This is what happens when you go toe to toe with an S-class missing ninja and they let you live. Me, Haku, and Guren fought him, but we lost. He was just toying with us."

"Damn, who did you fight man." Kiba asked, at little put off. He and Akamaru noticed that Naruto's scent a changed a bit, but this was nuts. They thought it was just from being in another country.

Haku groaned to himself when he saw Naruto look at the younger Uchiha with a dark smile. Guren just rolled her eyes while the other three Iwa ninja looked nervous. Naruto spoke while looking directly at Sasuke, something Shikamaru and Shino noticed before the others did, "We fought a certain Uchiha." Shino thought he saw Naruto's metal hand glow a faint orange. His form grew darker, like shadow were wrapped all around him and his lone eye turned blood red. If you looked closely though, you could see that it was the Sharingan "He maybe have taken my arm, but I took….**his soul!**"

Sasuke seemed to have understood what Naruto said and his mind ignored all rational thought and his earlier thoughts to stay on Naruto's good side. Itachi was his quarry dammit! "YOU BASTARD! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE BY MY HANDS!" He screamed as he threw a punch to Naruto's face.

Shikamaru thought Naruto was going to catch the punch like he did with Sakura, but he just left the Uchiha hit him. What was more shocking was that the fist continued, like Naruto wasn't even there, the strange black smoke giving no resistance.

The reactions to this were all mixed, but they are revolved around being shocked.

"Oh….temper, temper Sasuke." Naruto voice rang out from the black smoke. His hands came out and grabbed the Uchiha's forcing them behind the supposed elite ninja. "Trust me, he is not dead. Even with all the training I went through, I could not hope to beat him and if can't beat him, neither can you."

"Bullshit, I am the rookie of the year! I am the elite-" Sasuke stated.

"Of a bunch of kids." Naruto interrupted. "Compared to what we have been through, Konoha's academy teachings are weak."

"So what, I am an Uchiha!" Sasuke growled as he tried to free himself.

"Sasuke, did you forget how strong your brother was as a kid? He was a teen when he did what he did. Can you honestly say that as you are now, that you can pull off what he did?"

That froze Sasuke in place. Naruto was right. However as he relaxed and Naruto let go of him, he smirked arrogantly at the blond that reformed in front of him. "Heh, if I can't fight him just yet, I prove that I can beat you, after all, I am an Uchiha. I have to prove my mantel by beating the 4th Hokage's legacy."

"We'll see." Naruto replied with his own arrogant smirk.

The group from Iwa were now very confused. Where they best friends or something? They thought some big fight would erupt, but not this! Plus, the Konoha ninja were dumbfounded as well. However, some like Shikamaru and Shino were trying to figure out Naruto smoke jutsu. And they should have known not much would have changed between them.

"Well, I guess the two of you have to prove your worth since you are both dickless." Came the first reply from the unknown pale boy that replaced Naruto on team 7.

"UGH! SHUT THE HELL UP SAI!" Sakura roared, making everyone wince at the volume. "HE DOES TOO HAVE ONE!"

"Are you sure, have you checked?" Sai asked simply, getting a sputtering response from Sakura and an eyebrow raise from Ino.

"I don't know about the Uchiha, but I can vouch for Naruto." A familiar voice stated. The two groups turned as one to see a tanned girl with green hair, who was none other than Fu.

"FU!" Guren shouted in glee as she hugged the girl, but she decided to tease the boys a bit and made it look sexy, which Fu caught onto and just went with it.

Kiba, after wiping the blood from his nose, decided to ask, "Who is that and what does she mean?"

"Actually, I want to know how big it was." came soft voice. Again, the groups turn to the new voice and saw that it the familiar visage of white hair and amber orange eyes of Misa, Mifune's daughter.

Ok, now Naruto was sweating, these girls obviously had a thing for him and well, this was going to be difficult talking to Kurotsuchi. Speaking of said girl, "Naruto, who are these girls?" her sickly sweet voice piercing him with fear as he dared not to look at her.

"We are friends of sorts." Misa replied with a smirk. "And I came to let the Iwa teams know they are bunking in our mansion."

"Sweet!" Akatsuchi and Suzumebachi cheered while Haku smiled politely and Guren thanked the girl in her own pervert way, getting the boys to have nose bleeds again.

"Naruto, you still have not answered my question." Kurotsuchi stated as she put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked to Haku and Guren and then to the Konoha ninja for help but they are seemed entertained by his dilemma. Figures. However, he was saved by the next voice.

"My my Naruto, I knew you were smooth, but you seem to be quite the lady's man. I like that, makes things more….sexy." An obviously female voice stated seductively and with some mirth, like they were trying to hold back from laughing. He didn't need to look to know it was Temari and from the sniggers near her, her brothers were there as well.

Nope, not saved, he was utterly doomed!

So…he did the only thing that he knew would save him….well, for a few hours anyway. He ran like hell! "GOTTOGO! BYE!" With that, he was gone in a poof of smoke.

Kurotsuchi looked a little pissed by that. She wanted answers because she was pursuing the blond idiot. She genuinely had feelings for him. Glaring at the girls, she ordered, "Back off. I will win!"

"Is that a challenge?" Misa asked with a kind smirk.

"So what if it is?" Kurotsuchi asked heatedly.

"Then we won't make it easy one you, after all, I am the furthest ahead." Fu replied with a perverted grin.

"This should be fun." Temari stated with a grin of her own.

"Um, I want him too!" Hinata suddenly said, although it was softly spoken, it was still heard. The 4 girls stared her down before completely ignoring her in their competitive glares. They felt she was no threat to them. Harsh.

"Damn." Kiba stated. "Some guys get all the luck in the world. First Sasuke and now Naruto. So unfair!"

"Better him than me. Too troublesome." Shikamaru stated before trudging off to the hotel, already having enough of this. Choji shrugged and followed him.

However, this incident renewed a certain spark in Sakura and Ino's eyes as they launched themselves at Sasuke as he tried and failed to make his own getaway.

Kiba was left alone with his team as he silently cried at the unfairness of the world before they too left with Sai, who was now giving off that creepy fake smile of his and insulting the dog boy.

XXX

"I'm alive?" Naruto asked himself a fair distance away from the group of girls that wanted him and would probably make his life difficult. Maybe he should have mentioned the future treaties?

"So it would seem, but who are you?" A male voice asked. He was a dark skinned boy with the usual Kumo armor and white hair. "No wait, are you here to interrogate us in your own special way to make us reveal the secrets of our village, causing us to have to kill you and then causing an international incident before the Chunin Exams even start? OW!" The boy was hit by his teammate, a dark skinned girl with red hair.

"Shut up Omoi!" She screamed.

Another female voice sigh at this and caught Naruto's attention. She was a white girl with short blond hair, grey outfit with mesh underneath, a skirt and high heeled sandals with red hand guards. Another thing that caught his attention was her quickly developing breasts, which were on par with Temari's! "You have to forgive Omoi and Karui's antics, they are currently being uncool."

"It is fine…just a bit odd." Naruto said with a sweatdrop at this girl's perpetual aloof look. "Oh, by the way, I am Naruto Uzumaki." They all seemed to perk up at that.

The blond girl nodded and said, "I am Samui. We have heard about you." She seemed to pause a moment before asking. "I assume you know about the treaty Kumo and Iwa will be make soon?"

Naruto blinked, finding it odd that they knew about that already and were talking about it to him. "Yeah, it will be…odd to say the least. I am not exactly sure how this is all going to work." He said with a sigh.

Samui saw this and offered a rare smile. "I am sure you will pull through with whoever you will end up with from our village." She then looked around and then said, "Would you mind having lunch with us? So we can get to know each other and improve village relations?"

Naruto perked up at that. He could worry about the treaties later. Right now he was going to make some new friends. "Yeah, that would be great! I know they one place that serves good food since I was here a few months back." He said, leading away.

XXX

"Tch, should have known that you would be a dom type, Karui." Naruto said

"Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment." Karui replied.

"You know this is far from over, right?" Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Oh please, you can't win." Karui stated.

"Wanna say that again when I use my metal arm?"

"No! If you use your metal arm, you could break her arm and kick us both out of the tournament!" Omoi freaked.

"Omoi is right, I don't think a simple game of arm wrestling is worth it." Samui stated.

"Damn, well ok then." Naruto said with a sigh before he eyed Karui. "This is far from over, right."

"We'll see blondie!" Karui laughed. "You know, you ain't half bad. I don't usually trust people this quick, but you are a good guy."

"Thanks?" Naruto replied, a little put off.

"Yeah, when we heard that about the future alliance and the possible political marriage, we started freaking out that you would be like stuck up Uchiha that wanted everything handed to him on a silver platter." Omoi said.

"No, that was just you." Samui countered. "However, we were worried for whoever they choose to be your political wife, but now that we have met and gotten to know you, we are not that worried."

Naruto smiled sadly, "You guys give me too much credit. I am just a reckless kid while likes to have fun in a fight. Personally, I don't think I am ready for this kind of responsibility or that I am the right choice, especially considering the other thing the old man wants me to do."

"Oh, what is that?" Omoi asked.

Naruto froze a little bit, not sure if he should tell them about his future position in Iwa. "Well, I can't really tell you, sorry. But I am sure it will be the talk of the town everywhere in the Elemental Countries if he does decide it."

"Well, whatever it is and if you really are the guy for the alliance marriages, I am sure you will do fine." Samui said kindly.

"Yeah, just have faith in yourself," Karui cheered, "It might be scary at first, but it'll be fine. Just one more thing about being a ninja."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks." He then looked at the near clock in the Bar B Que restaurant they were in and paled. "Well, I need to get back to my team or else they could come looking for me and I am already in deep with one of them. Oh…I hope she doesn't kill me!" Naruto said as he ran out the door before popping his head back in. "Oh, good luck and see you in the Chunin Exams."

Karui smirked. "Strange kid, but I like him."

"Yes, he is pretty cool." Samui replied.

"Well, we better get back to the hotel before we are a later and then sensei will-ow!" Omoi yelled in pain because Karui comically bashed him in the head again and Samui just rolled her eyes.

XXX

When Naruto got back into Mifune's mansion, he was immediately confronted by Kurotsuchi's stern but hurt look while the rest of the Iwa ninjas made their way to him.

Naruto sighed. Onoki never did say that he could not tell them. He just hoped they understood. "Hey guys…" He said dejectedly. "I need to tell you something….all of you."

XXX

**And there you go everyone. I wanted to end it sooner, but I still have ideas rattling around in my head. Also, I want to apologize to the Naruto/Hinata fans, I know I was a bit cruel, but this is my story. They will still be friends. **

**As for the Kumo pairing, I truly torn between Karui, my personal favorite….for a few reasons, and Samui….for the obvious reasons.**

**Now I am going to play the game I just got. Ni no Kuni. After all, gotta kill time with that and Borderlands for when Pokemon X and Y come in October.**

**Anyway, I need a lot of reviews please!**


	13. House of Horrors Part 1

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 13**

**That was a lot of feedback for ch 12, so many good reviews, thank you so much. Now in the reviews, more people wanted Karui to be in the Harem, that is fine with me, since like many of you said, it is a rare pairing. However, the polls did say you all wanted Samui….for obvious reasons. So…I will decide later because there are a few that said both….but I doubt that will happen.**

**Also, I in a freaking good mood. No more will I pay for anime on amazon….even if it is cheaper than suncoast in the mall. I have foxfire, which means I have flashgot, heh. And I found a site for all dubbed stuff. Screw animefreak . tv, I found a better place for all my anime, heh.**

**XXX **

_Last Time:_

_When Naruto got back into Mifune's mansion, he was immediately confronted by Kurotsuchi's stern but hurt look while the rest of the Iwa ninjas made their way to him._

_Naruto sighed. Onoki never did say that he could not tell them. He just hoped they understood. "Hey guys…" He said dejectedly. "I need to tell you something…all of you." _

Present:

"Yes, I would like to know what all that was back there." Kurotsuchi stated with her arms crossed.

Guren, who sort knew what was going on in the girl department, saw something else. There was more to this story than they thought. "This is going to be a long story, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily." Naruto replied while rubbing the back of his head.

"Aright, go ahead then." Haku said.

"You see, it is like this." Naruto began. "Kurotsuchi, you know how your dad has stepped down a made someone else the Tsuchikage yet."

"Of course." She growled. "I still don't see why he has given it to dad or me yet."

"The thing is…the 1st Tsuchikage made a rule that said that a family member cannot be chosen."

"WHAT!" Suzumebachi screamed out in shock. The she started thinking about it. "That…makes so much sense now! Back then, grandpa noticed there was a lot of infighting between our parents and such. When grandpa chose someone else, that's what led to our own downfall in the village….something I bet my brother never bothered to mention."

Kurotsuchi nodded, finally understanding that and why her father or her were never picked! "So, that means what now?"

Haku and Akatsuchi's eyes widened as they came to their own conclusions, but stayed quiet…mostly out of shock and awe.

"Well, your grandpa was ready a long time ago to quit his job….mostly the reason he was train Deidara. He was training him to be the next Tsuchikage." Naruto said, getting wide eyes from his female teammate as she was starting to put it together somewhat. "After he went and left, he chose us to be his students. And well, when he told you guys to leave us to talk, that's what he told me. That because I have you guys to keep me level headed, I will be the next Tsuchikage…and it is not like he didn't say not to tell you, but this stays between us until this actually happens."

It was quiet for a long time as the group tried to process all this new information. He was sure if it took this long for this to process all of this, the next thing he would going to tell them was probably going to make their brain's overflow and blow up in some way.

"I…didn't expect that at all." Guren said in shock.

Haku smiled. "I am glad that it was you he chose. I would rather not lead an entire village to their doom."

"Oh ha!" Naruto grumbled.

"But, if it is you, I would be honored to be your advisor….to make sure you don't burn us all to the ground." Haku stated with a smile.

"So cruel." Naruto said as a rain cloud appeared over him. Seriously, there was no faith.

"You know, me and my team are going to have to help. You can't handle the blond all your own with just you and Kurotsuchi." Guren replied in a serious manner.

"More help would be appreciated." Said Haku, making the rain above Naruto come down harder with a few lightning strikes.

"No faith what so ever." Naruto cried.

Haku smirked. "Do I have to remind you of the Scorpion Incident?"

This time, a lightning bolt came down on Naruto's head, burning him to a crisp as he has tears coming down his face.

"None of this explains the girls that are coming after you." Kurotsuchi replied, still pissed off. However, she was ecstatic for Naruto, but she was not going to let that deter her just yet.

"Ah, right that." Naruto said, stepping away from the rain cloud as if it was never there and nothing happened to him. "I met them on our training trip under Zabuza. Just ask Haku and Guren."

Kurotsuchi's glare was sent to the mentioned and they flinched. Guren sighed. "Yeah, it is true, we sort of set him up with Temari when we were in Sand."

"However." Haku injected, seeing that they were pissing off the Rock Princess. "The other girls Naruto befriended and they obviously gained a thing for him."

"I see." Kurotsuchi stated before turning her attention back to Naruto. "Anything else you have to say before I pound you?"

"Two actually." Naruto said and he was urged to go on. "The old man wants me to do three things….one is to help him set up alliances with the other villages through political marriage and that will then lead into rebuilding the Uzumaki Clan in Iwa."

By the end of it, Kurotsuchi's eye was twitching madly, Guren was smirking pervertedly while thinking us ways to tease her friend, Suzumebachi had a devious look in her eyes, and the boys were cursing Naruto's luck.

"Well now. That is interesting. Now we don't have to fight over you." Misa said as she leaned on a nearby wall with a predatory look in her eyes. "I know that Iron Country is a neutral country, but I think me and my father can think of something."

"That is it! That old man has lived long enough!" Kurotsuchi raged.

Akatsuchi took this time to stupid talk. "I don't get it, you two are not even together, why do you care, Kurotsuchi?"

Guren groaned at her teammate's ignorance while Suzumebachi rolled her eyes. Kurotsuchi growled as she rushed over and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of the big guy. She then turned her attention back to Naruto. While it was true that they weren't together, she still had feeling for him, but now, thanks to her grandfather, she was being force to reveal them or lose the blond idiot.

"He's right, weren't together." She said as he stalked over to him, with each step she took, he took a step back, fearful of what her enraged state would do to him. "But, over the month we've known each other; I have gotten to know you as a friend and teammate, not just the guy that saved my life." At this point, Naruto found himself backed into a wall. "I admit that gave you some points, but I found that wasn't enough. Now that I know you, I know I want to be with you, you idiot." She leaned in to smash her lips against his.

Naruto was of course shocked, but it was not unwelcomed. He felt the same way about the Rock Princess. She was an awesome person.

Kurotsuchi broke the kiss with a red face. Whether that was from embarrassment or anger, he did not know. "However, if I have to share you because of what my grandpa is doing, then I am making it clear that I am with you first and I am the Alpha!"

"Heh….sure?" Naruto said, not sure how this all worked….at all.

"Enjoy just the two of you while you can." Misa said, still smiling. "Because later, things will get…hot." She then gained a bit of drool coming out of her lips and some blood out of her nose. "Oh god….can you imagine the orgies with those shadow clones."

…

….

Oh yeah, that image alone was able to knock everyone back with their own nosebleed at how they pictured it.

Haku recovered first because he remember there was something else Naruto needed to say. Thankfully for him, this would change the subject. He didn't want to die of blood loss after all. "Ahem, there was a 3rd thing if I am correct."

"Oh right!" Naruto said as he pounded his fist. "The old man wants me to put together an organization….much like Deidara's Explosion Corp."

"I see." Kurotsuchi replied, thinking it was a good idea, but just needed members, a name, and a purpose.

"Who's all going to be in it?" Akatsuchi asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, I was hoping you all would be in it. After that, I am not sure who else should be in it, but I was kind of hoping to use the remnants of Sound."

"Interesting, I think that might work, but you would have to convince them." Haku stated thoughtfully, "Especially that white haired one that escaped when Orochimaru died."

"Yeah, although he didn't do much." Guren said thoughtfully.

"Oh well." Kurotsuchi said. "We'll figure that out later. Any clue for a name or a purpose?"

"Nope, but I am sure it will come to me eventually." Naruto replied with a shrug. "Now, we just need to focus on the Chunin Exam tomorrow."

"Good point." The Rock Princess replied.

XXX

Naruto got into his bed that Mifune had let him use, hell the old man let the Iwa ninja use every room in his mansion, saying that they needed to be used at least once.

_Yeah, the chunin exams is what we need to focus on the most. We can deal with the group and the position of Tsuchikage later…much later. Not to mention the political marriages and rebuilding my clan. _

This was honestly too much to put on a 13 year old, but he would just have to endure it, just like all other things. At least he had his friends helping him.

Speaking of his friends, he felt that Kurotsuchi was on the other side of his door. "It is open." He said aloud.

"You are getting better at sensing people." Kurotsuchi replied as she walked in.

Naruto's eye nearly bugled out of his head when he saw that Kurotsuchi was wearing a red, almost see through night gown. "Thanks, but what's the occasion?"

Kurotsuchi pouted at that and he had to admit that it looked cute on her. "I just wanted to sleep with my boyfriend alone before all the crap grandpa has in store for you and then I have to share you."

The blond blinked owlishly at that. They had known each for a month and they could both say that they had been together ever since the Bomb Incident two weeks ago. Sure they had kissed a few times to see how it was and they could say they liked it. However, they never really came out and said they were together, they had wanted to wait a bit more, but this new information cut that short and here they were.

The rock princess smiled before she got in bed with her official boyfriend before she planted a kiss on his lips. When he broke away to say something she shushed him. "Shhh, just enjoy it, but we ain't having sex tonight, we need to keep our strength for tomorrow." She said before diving back into the kiss.

Yeah, no sex, but that didn't mean they couldn't do…other stuff for the night.

XXX

The next morning every single ninja were standing a field, where a small house sat alone. In front of them stood Mifune, imposing as ever as he stared down every single ninja that dared enter his homeland for his test.

He saw them all, from Kiri to Suna, from Kumo to Iwa, and even Konoha. There were even a few some smaller villages, which most would write off as nothings, but he was never a man to ignore even a single threat.

Finally he gaze fell on a young blond that Zabuza had him help and who gained his interest, both because of the boy's personality and situation, and the man fatherly wrath when it came to his daughter.

Finally, Mifune spoke.

"Today is a gloryious day! You all have the honor of participating in a test that is not often held in Iron Country. This would be the 4th time we have held the Exams here and all because each leader has gained at interest in one or many ninja. This time, it is because of one ninja that you all get to do this exam in my country."

That brought a roar of whispers as to who it could be but most knew it was because of the famous ninja that made Konoha have its own civil war. The Fourth Hokage's son that left of his own accord due to his treatment as a jinchuriki, it was common knowledge after all. However, most did not understand why it was common knowledge.

"Today, you face one of two test you will take while in my country." Mifune started up again. "But first, let me explain something. The Chunin Exams were created for one purpose only. To replace the need for war. And while it is usually an exam to keep up neutrality, it is even more so while in our country due to the fact that we ourselves play a neutral role in the world. That is unless a global threat is about and that is when we step in. Just remember that."

Seeing that his word have sunk in, Mifune gestured to the small house behind him. This 'house' is where the first exam will be held. I know it looks like a normal building, but you are ninja, you should know that looks can be deceiving. The true building is underground. This building will be your exam!"

"What's so great about it?" A random genin asked aloud.

Mifune smirked and said, "The simple fact that it is one big maze of horror. In there, you will face you fears and battle each other to get out alive. You have 24 hours to do so, but it won't be that easy. You will need 4 keys to escape its horrors. The Keys of Mind, Body, Soul, and Heart. You need all of these to truly be recognized as a true warrior in my country, whether it be Ninja or Samurai. We all take this test in some shape or form." Mifune stated passionately. "Each team was given two keys when they entered our village, but we did not explain as to what they were for, only to keep them with their teammates when in the village. Now you all know!"

There were mixed amounts of reactions to this new piece of information. However, there were shouts of outrage that a few teams have theirs. Mifune kept his impassive look on his face, hearing it all. _And that was the first true test, to see if they followed simple orders and held the necessary items when need. _

"To all those that did not follow orders, I want you out of my sight and out of my village before the sunsets. You have failed the true first test as soldiers. And as soldiers, you need to know how to follow orders to the letter or you will die."

There, of course, were shouts of more outrage, but there was not much the idiots could do before they left in a hurry, not wanting to stick around any longer. Once they left, there were still quite a few teams left, but the bulk had left, which ironically came from Konoha, Kumo, and Kiri.

"Now, enter the labyrinth and face the challenges to become true warriors!" Mifune demand as he stepped aside to left the shinobi masses into the House of Horror.

XXX

As soon as Naruto's team entered the front door, a darkness swallowed them up, only to be dropped in a cave like area. "Ugh, now where are we?"

"It looks like a cave." Haku said as he looked around.

"So, I guess we have to fight other teams in this place to get out, but I am more worried about the dangers within this place. Mifune wasn't very forth coming with what he knew about it." Kurotsuchi stated as she look around.

"No point in just standing here waiting for whatever to kill us, let's go." Naruto ordered, not liking the feel of this place.

As they walked, they did notice how cold and quiet it was. Something was not right. However, it became a little weird for them when they spotted another area up ahead and it look like something you would see in a western style house. However, the thing that set their guard up was the blood splattered on the walls.

_ROAR!_

"That came from behind us!" Haku shouted, highly on edge about all this.

"Great, we stay here and face whatever made that sound or we move forward and face what made those blood spatters." Kurotsuchi said, kunai at the ready.

"Man, they really make us hit the ground running in this exam, don't they?" Naruto growled. "I say we push on, not like we can go anywhere else at the moment."

"Right." They said as they follow Naruto forward into the newer area, but as soon as they did, the whole place shock violently and the cave area behind them disappeared to reveal a desert like area they from where they stood, was extremely heated.

"Labyrinth indeed." Naruto said as he glared at the area behind them. This place was one bing labyrinth. So that's what Mifune meant, the dangers of each area was critical. They sure had their work cut out for them if they were to escape.

Noticing that neither of his teammate had said a word, he turned around to see what was up, only to freeze in horror. It was no wonder they had been so quiet, they were frozen in horror as well. Why? Well in front of them were the three mangled and bloody corpses of a Konoha team. However, Naruto did not recognize any of them, so that was a bit of relief, but whatever it was that did this to them was still around.

"What could have done this?" Naruto asked himself aloud.

"I don't know, but their faces are burned off…almost like they melted right off." Haku replied a little shakily.

"This is just horrible! Where is that bastard who did this!?" Kurostuchi raged. She didn't care that they were Konoha ninja, they didn't deserve this!

"Ya! HAHAHAHAAHA!" A voice laughed out manically in glee.

"Ask and you shall receive….as the old saying goes." Haku deadpanned.

"So right!" A man shouted in glee as he walked into the room. "I am _so_ lucky today. First that one team and now you three!"

Naruto looked over the new person with wariness. The person was a lanky man that was completely bald. There were also black tribal tattoos on his scalp. He didn't really have clothes, just brown rags. His tongue was out like a dog's and if Naruto saw things right, the salvia was dripping off it and burning holes in the wood flooring.

"Ah, so they are going the Chunin Exams again if I am correct in the assumption that you all are ninja. Too bad you found me."

"What's so great about you?" Naruto asked.

The man chuckled at that before he laughed outright. "My god, they never tell you little brats anything do they? Originally this place was a prison for people from all over the world. I myself am a serial killer known as Acid Burn. Now, I find it ironic that this area is the exact same place I committed my first murder….my own home. However, what is odd is that the people of this country knew that I was from another continent."

"Oh….this not good. I guess this is own the horrors Mifune spoke about." Haku said a little nervously.

"Who the hell cares, let's kick this guy's ass! I am already tired of him." Kurotsuchi roared. She had to deal with this type of crap once before and it was already old!

"Alright but let's be careful." Naruto said as he brought up his hood. "I noticed that his spit his acidic….who knows what else is the same."

"Oh! Vary keen eyes you have there boy!" Acid Burn laughed. "Let's see if you little ninja can deal with me or die like the rest!

Haku nodded and readied his senbon, there was no need for his sword in this battle. Throwing them, he called out, "**Ice Style: Nitro Rain!**" The many senbon all froze and became far more deadly.

Acid noticed this bit and fear for his life. He quickly twisted his body in irregular ways to avoid them but one managed to hit his foot, completely freezing it.

"Ugh, you are no low level ninjas that is for sure, normally my victims don't react fast enough." Acid commented in an oddly serious tone.

"We are far above the level of low genin, that is for sure." Kurotsuchi stated.

"So it would seem, oh well" Acid replied nonchalantly before he grabbed his frozen foot and ripped it off, shocking his opponents. "I guess I'll have to step it up for once, heh, step. **ACID FRACTURE!**"

Acid spit on his removed foot before throwing it right in front of the group of genin. It shattered on impact, sending pieces of his foot everywhere. Naruto ran forward and deflected all the shrapnel with his claws, intent on protecting his teammate from harm. However, he noticed that some stayed on his claws and they were starting to melt, making the claws steam, so flicked them to remove the acid.

He looked back at the insanely grinning man and thought, _ So that's you plan. Your whole body is made of acid….scary. He would even scrafice his own body to kill us for his pleasure, but how does he get the body parts back?_ Naruto eyes the deformed bodies of the Konoha ninja and saw large bite marks on them, making Naruto's eyes widen. _ He eats them! Damn!_

"Ah, so the blond and finally noticed it, yes, as long as there is something left of my victims, I can eat them to regrow my own limbs, so it does not matter if I lose a body part of my own. LOVELY POWER I HAVE, RIGHT?!" Acid Burn shouted in glee, making them sweat.

However, Naruto was done with this battle. "There is one thing you can't grow back!" He roared as he brought out the Claws of Hades and brought down the hooks on the man.

"This battle if futile for you! Just sumbit so I can kill you!" Acid Burn shouted, making no move to get out of the way. To him, pain meant nothing!

He was too stupid to know what the true purpose of those claws until it was too late. As soon as the claw hit him, he felt a different kind of pain. The pain of getting his soul getting ripped out. The man looked in horror as the floating specter in front of him looked just like him. However, Naruto did not absorb the soul like he did with Itachi, he just let it go.

Acid Burn tried reaching for his soul, but the claws came again and ripped it apart. He didn't know how to process this as he body felt cold and then he fell on the floor…dead.

"That was…harsh, but I understand why you did it." Haku stated, a little shaken by the whole experience.

"People like him, don't deserve to live, the world was better off without him." Naruto growled.

"I guess so, but now we have to search these bodies for a key. By the way, what keys do we even have?" Kurotsuchi asked, trying to ignore what just transpired.

Naruto blinked. "Ugh, I never checked."

"Idiot!" Kurotsuchi groaned as the blond took out the keys.

"Ok, we have Body and Heart. So that mean we need Soul and Mind." Naruto stated as he checked.

"Well, it seems that they have Soul and Body." Haku announced as he brought the keys over.

"Cool, we have an extra and all we really need is one more." Naruto said with a smile.

"Right, let's get the hell out here; this place is giving me the creeps." Kurotsuchi ordered, getting nods from the boys, not wanting to argue.

XXX

They had walked a good while and ended up back in the Cave area. Luckily, they did not run into that monster that roared before, however, they did notice there was blood splatter on the wall.

"Hey, this cave wasn't as big last time, right?" Naruto asked.

"You have a point, perhaps we are in a different cave area." Haku suggested.

"Well where ever we are, there are two routes this time." Kurotsuchi stated, pointing to two exits.

"Let's go right." Naruto suggested and his teammates just shrugged, not wanting to argue. Soon they were rewarded with a different exit this time. It was a forest setting that Naruto knew well, however, that is not what made them stop in their tracks. It was another Konoha team, this time, alive.

"Sasuke." Naruto said.

"Naruto." The Uchiha replied in kind with a serious face before it shifted into a cocky smirk. "Well, I guess we get to see who is stronger, sooner. Good, I wanted to fight you!"

"Heh, we'll see who is stronger, but I can already tell you, it is me."

"Doubtful."

_Boom!_

Their battle was put on hold for a while as the two areas shifted once more.

This place was more difficult to navigate then they thought.

XXXX

**Ok, I am cutting this off right here because I am in a pissy mood now. Why? Well my car…the 3****rd**** one, is overheating….god I have horrible luck with cars!**

**Sorry if the quality sucks this time around, i might change it later, but i am not in the mood right now.**

**Review please!**


	14. House of Horrors Part 2

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 14**

**Sorry this took so long but I can say that I am FINALLY done with Tomb Raider and Borderlands, yeah I beat them both finally. Whoot!**

**Anyway, this chapter will have quite a few crossovers since I didn't feel like making a bunch of OCs. Enjoy.**

"AH! SPIDERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM NOW!" a girly voice shrieked in fear.

"You must be joking." A man's voice asked.

"Ok…this is just getting weird." Another woman's voice deadpanned. "I just hope that blond idiot is doing better than we are."

XXX

Said blond was currently in another part of the massive prison that was Iron Country's version of the Chunin Exams. After their run in with Konoha's Team 7 and then getting cut off from them when the prison shifted once more, they pressed on.

They soon found themselves in another house setting that they met that acid freak in. In face it was the very same house, but just another floor altogether! It was maddening that they weren't getting anywhere fast.

However, what put them more on edge was the fact that other than Team 7 and the team that the Acid Freak had killed, they had not run into any more teams.

That brings us to this point where they wait for another Prison Freak to make their move. After all, the area they were in was incredibly quiet. Way to quiet for their tastes.

Then they heard a noise. It was a noise most foreign to the ninja. To them is sounded like a mix between a Fire Jutsu or a Wind Jutsu. Then it came so quick they had no time to prepare. A giant machine came out of the wood work of the house, blasting the floor apart before an arm like appendage grabbed the blond and flew off, but not before it shot a rocket where Haku and Kurotsuchi were, making the house area fall apart as they fell into yet another part of the maze they were in.

For a moment, Naruto thought he saw a part of the Labyrinth they were in. He saw all the inner workings of this giant place. And it was indeed giant. Hundreds of cubes that held the different areas.

But, the blond and his captor were not going to any of the smaller ones, they were heading into the largest one there…right in the middle of the labyrinth, where if he was correct, he saw a tube like structure leading of the place. Just his luck though that he had to get rid of the thing holding him and then find his friends and then somehow get back to the area they were heading to.

None of that mattered for the time being because he was suddenly thrown into a building once they were inside the largest cube like structure. Fighting through the mental cobwebs that formed, Naruto took a look at his new surroundings. The building he crashed into was _nothing_ like he was used to.

It was miles higher than he was used to…at least that's what he thought anyway. It was a large metal building that reached up to the sky with an absurd amount of glass windows. In fact, there were more of them, all around him! This was some village alright, hell it was probably more than that, he just didn't know what to call it.

Hear the strange whirling sound again, the blond looked up to see his attacker and was positively miffed as to what this being even was. It was a large metal humanoid boar. That was all he could really describe it as. Red and black paint in all the right places to make the creature look as scary as hell.

"O….k." Naruto ventured. "Just what the hell are you?"

"You will speak to me with more respect, Child of Sin!" Its voice, obviously male, spoke with a raspy metallic voice.

"Oh? Sorry about that, but since I have no freaking idea who you are, I really have no reason to respect you. It is earned, not gained." Naruto deadpanned. "Wait, the hell do you mean 'Child of Sin.'"

"You are a child of this sin steeped country. A child who uses the body's forbidden energy, the very energy that only God possesses and should be the only one use to determine your fate!"

"Who told you that load of crap?" Naruto asked with a disbelieving look.

"We of my land, the land free of the poison you have with your body, teach everyone these simple rules." It said. "I was sent here to exterminate your kind with my army, but your primitive ancestors fought back, not caring of their terrible sin! You all destroyed my army, ME THE GREAT GENERAL RO!

"I was the last to survive the battle with your sinful kind, both so called Ninja and Samurai alike. For that, I was sent to this ever changing prison as my punishment. Not I seek to release myself of this sinful place while killing off the occasional ninja that comes down here to take this 'Chunin Exam'. However, you boy, I caught you energy reading and knew I had to destroy you. You energy reading is vastly more that the simple insects sent to this dreadful place."

"Oh, and what is so special about me that I needed a welcome like this?"

"You are like the first one we sent to this lands, the one who failed to destroy the Great Beast of Sin and was changed for it. The one you people call the Sage of Six Paths. He took the Great Beast of Sin into himself, the ultimate sin where you shall be damn to hell for all eternity! You boy, have one of the Beast's hell spawn within your body."

_So…that metal thing knows I am a jinchuriki and that I made myself into one willingly? Dafaq?_ "Yeah well, I didn't ask to be made a jinchuriki." Naruto growled out. "My so called dad sealed it within my body a few minutes after I was born! And just so you know, we are not always seen as equal humans within our own land! Sometimes we are just seen as weapons!"

That seemed to calm down the boar like…thing. So much so that the boar's face split open to reveal…a really fat guy within. The man's eyes looked sad at what Naruto had told him. "I am sorry young one. For the higher ups in this land to creature your kind without your consent, that is horrible. However, this changes nothing young Human Sacrifice. I shall aid you by putting you out of your misery!"

The 'face' closed up once more and if the blond was correct, the hands of this thing turning into strange weapons that had cylinders on the side. The hell were these things supposed to do?

"**MOVE!"** Screamed Kyuubi's voice within his mind. He did as told and was thankful for it because where he was before exploded.

_That is new!_

"**Idiot! Those things are forms of guns! His hands are modified guns, things that shoot high speed projectiles. Use those ninja senses of yours to see the damn bullets and dodge of them!"**

"Right," Naruto said as he dodged and weaved around the bullets. He would ask the fox later about how he knew this information, but didn't have time right now.

"DIE!" The boar man screamed as it's face opened up…the mouth anyway, to reveal another cylinder only far larger! After that, it shot out a large beam of energy where Naruto used to be once more. "Stop fighting boy! I am trying to hell you!"

"The hell you are!" Naruto shouted back. "**Scorch Style: Rising Sun!"** With that, Naruto created a scarlet orb of intense flame and shot it towards the boar man and thankfully it hit, creating a large explosion of sorts.

However, he was not prepared for the man to be there still, not even harmed and laughing at him. "THE HELL!?"

"Foolish child. I came here prepared. How do you think I survived this long? I created a device that my superiors felt that was unnecessary. It negates all chakra and stops your elemental attacks, making it so that you can't touch me with them!" The boar man laughed.

"Ah….crap."

XXX

When Naruto was taken and the thing that took them blasted the floor apart, Haku and Kurotsuchi had fallen into a strange area where the floor was bouncy. It looked like another cave setting but this bouncy material was all white and it was all over. They had no idea what was underneath. And the felling they were getting from this place told them they didn't want to know.

"You ok Kurotsuchi?" Haku asked.

"I'll live, but we need to find Naruto and get the hell out of this place, it is starting to piss me off."

"I agreed, but this place is creeping me out." The ice user commented, a shiver going up his spine.

"Oh grow some balls girly boy." Kurotsuchi replied with a roll of her eyes.

Before Haku could retort, a heavy Russian accent interrupted them. "So, you have come to my prison? I guess that means I have to kill you as well." The two ninja looked up on a ridge to see what looked to be a man in a strange but heavily cracked armor. It looked old and worn down too so there was no shine to it. The same could be said for its hockey like mask, however, it was broken near the right eye, letting them see part of the man's old face. His black hair long and messy as it went down his shoulders. The most noticeable feature of the man was his choice of weapons. On his wrists, were two long whip like devices.

"Mind telling us who you are buddy?" Kurotsuchi asked bluntly.

The man chuckled, but it was old and raspy. "I have not used my name in a long time. You may call me…Anton Vanko….or as some called me, Whiplash." He said as the whips crackled to life with electricity.

"That's new." Haku claimed as he readied his senbon and Kurotsuchi, her kunai.

With that, the two knew they had no choice but to fight, so they made the first move and rushed the man.

The man, despite the metal mask on his face, scoffed. He maybe old, but he could take on a couple of teenagers. Ducking under their well-timed strikes, he sent his electrified whips at them.

Haku narrowly dodged the whips by jumping in between them with ease….even though it was close. There was something he noticed, it was the whips were generating so much heat that they burnt up his senbon, making him drop them. This was not good.

Kurotsuchi was not that lucky. While she may be good, she was still vulnerable to being attacked. Yes, she had been trained by one of the best, but no one was invisible and this area they were in was hard for her to maneuver around. She bounced a little too high and the whips got her by the arms, electrifying her while Whiplash threw her to the ground, making her bounce around while screaming in agony.

Haku growled. This area was going to be the death of them if this battle kept on going. This Whiplash guy must have been used to this type of environment and they weren't….he needed to do something about it before it was too late.

_Now I know what other people have to deal with when I use my Ice Tundra technique. The only way to fight right is to get rid of this bouncy crap. _Haku nodded to himself before looking back to Anton.

Said man just blankly stared back at Haku. "You realize you can't win, correct. My whips will be your undoing."

"Screw you!" Kurotsuchi weakly growled out as she slowly got back up, her body smoking from the whips' electricity.

"You really have a mouth on you girl. Maybe that's what I should strike next."

"Feh, you can try, but what makes you so great and terrible that they sent you down here? Higher level ninja could easily kick your old ass." Kurotsuchi asked, knowing Haku had a plan, so she was stalling for him. Out the corner of her eye, she saw that she was correct, he was forming hand seals behind his back.

The man stepped out of his fighting stance as he stared at the ceiling, his one visible eye clouded with old memories. "Not much, just tried to kill the last member of a family of thieves and liars. I used his tech to try and kill him and then used the tech of a rival of his…both ended with me losing…the second time I thought myself dead due to blowing myself up….only the armor took most of the damage and I survived…somehow.

"After that, I was put back into prison, my body heavily scared. It was then that I decided that if I was still alive, I could escape…maybe try again or use my second chance to live again. I chose the latter, but I was chased into lands quite savage and then I found myself in these lands. It was all a blur and then next thing I knew I was here…in the ever changing prison…for years." Anton told them. It was a harsh tale for him, but he wasn't going to tell them everything.

"Well, Karma is a bitch and I look like one." Haku stated, **"Ice Style: Heavy Nitro Dagger!"**

"What!" Anton shouted as the air got drier as a large 'dagger' made of super cold ice formed in midair. In reality, it was no dagger, it looked more like Zabuza's old blade. Which was something he could have used, but chose not to. He was not sure if this was going to work anyway.

The large dagger was then release from its midair flight as Haku released his control over it, letting it fall to the ground, which then pierced the bouncy material and went straight on through.

They didn't hear it hit the ground, they heard something far worse. They heard the scream of some sort of animal as it wailed in agony before going silent. Obviously dead.

It was deathly quiet for a few minutes before the 'ground' they were on started to shake violently as they heard a screech of another animal of some kind. Then it went still for a second before thousands of small spiders rushed out of the hole made by the ice dagger.

That was when all of Haku's bravado was replace by childish fear. "AH! SPIDERS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM NOW!" his voice shrieking like a girl's as he ran around in circles, waving his arms in panic.

"You must be joking." Anton sighed in disbelieve.

"Ok…this is just getting weird." Kurotsuchi deadpanned. She never knew Haku got like this with spiders….now she had dirt on him…heh. "I just hope that blond idiot is doing better than we are."

At that point, the 'ground' they were on shattered, making all three combatants fall to the ground, which was not that far away. Still, what was on the true ground was absolutely terrifying. Much larger spiders roamed around.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Haku cried, catching all the spiders' attention as they turned to the group.

Not too far away from the Iwa Ninja, Anton rolled his eyes. "Way to go. You got their attention.

"**Yes…thank you humans. Now we can feast….it has been such a long time since we had the flesh of humans. We have had to resort to eating each other for sustenance."** A loud booming voice stated as a far large spider made its way toward them.

"Who or what are you?" Anton asked, clearly not afraid to die to this….thing.

"**I have forgotten my name…it has been such a long time. I do remember my old caretaker's name surprisingly. He was a gentle soul who loved monsters like me. His name was...Hagrid."**

"Sounds like a fool. Now if you don't mind, I have a couple of kids to be rid of." Anton stated as he turned back to the teens.

That was a big mistake because the giant spider's family didn't take to kindly to their master being insulted. They rushed the man, tearing the metal armor apart as if it was made of wet tissue paper. Soon, they dug into his body, but he never screamed out in fear or agony. No, he was laughing insanely.

"Ha ha, you lose! Ha ha!" he told the two ninja as he was devoured alive.

"We are so boned." Kurotsuchi deadpanned as Haku screamed in terror.

XXX

"Argh!" Naruto shouted as he was thrown into another building even with his smoke form activated. When the smoke and debris cleared, it revealed a clearly beaten up Naruto with his right sleeve rolled up to reveal a new contraption on his metal arm. An Aegis Shield. Foldable of course to easily conceal it but it was still useful.

He had his Claws out as well. He thought about using the Claws of Hades, but he had no interest in having the soul of General Ro in him. The Death Scythe would just get in the way with this battle. So the claws in his fists would have to work.

By this time, the boar man was not using both of the hand like guns on both of his hands. No, he had switched it up. On his left hand, it had turned into a ten barreled machine gun, clearly consisted of both hands. On his right 'hand' was a large sword, fashioned from the tusks of the boar's head. It was a deadly combination and due to the chakra stopping tech that he was using, Naruto was having a hell of a time against this freak.

Blocking shots from the gun with his shield, Naruto jumped high as he run up a building. "HA! RUNNING UP A BUILDING WON'T SAVE YOU BOY! I CAN FLY, REMEMBER?" Ro shouted as he blasted upwards to strike at the blond.

Naruto pushed off the building and twisted in midair as he brought his shielded claw down on the tusk sword while stabbing into the gun arm, destroying a few functions.

"So you can fight for real!" Ro laughed before he grabbed hold of the blond and threw him away into another building. "It is good to know that you don't rely on your unholy powers!"

Naruto ignored the man as he sailed through the air. He caught hold of an empty flagpole, flipped around on it a few times before he flung himself higher into the air. Once the ascent was slowing down, he once more started running up the building.

"Run as high as you want little sin! There is no way for you to kill me!" Ro shouted as he too started to ascend.

By this time, Naruto had reached the top and jumped off, free falling. Naruto smirked as he saw that what he did, stopped the boar man in midair. "Perfect." He muttered as he thrust his shielded claw outwards, letting serrated spikes protrude from it. "**Reaper's Fall!"**

"What the hell?" Ro asked himself. His eyes widened once he noticed the weapons and Naruto's position. "No!"

Ro tried moving away, but he was not fast enough. Naruto was moving at terminal velocity and he had no chance. So he did the only thing he could do and that was move a little to the right. That saved his life, if only barely, because as Naruto came down, the claw struck first, ripping right through the machine gun arm with ease and then the spiked shield struck. It destroyed the shoulder and everything else it touched, ripping and tearing every piece of metal and flesh it touched.

"ARGH!" Ro screamed. The tusk sword discarded as the metal arm cradled the left side of its body. Despite the shredded metal, Ro cared more about his human parts…which were bleeding profusely. "Ugh! You little bastard…I will….i will kill you!"

"You asked for it." Naruto replied as he used his real genjutsu smoke form to safe return to the ground.

"I think this fight is over." A loud and powerful voice rang out, freezing General Ro in his tracks.

"Oh fuck, the warden!"

XXX

Despite Haku's fear of spiders, he was making quick work of them as in his panic, he was fling iced senbon all over the place, killing off a few hundred, but they were still coming!

Kurotsuchi was have some trouble as well, even though she had gotten better with the Explosion Release, there was only so much a small amount of them could do to a horde of spiders.

"Haku, we are going to have to use one of our new combination jutsu."

"WAH! WHICH ONE?" Haku screamed.

"The explosive one." Kurotsuchi grinned with a dangerous look in her eye.

"WHATEVER GETS RID OF THESE SPIDERS FASTER!" Haku cried as they both started the hand signs back to back. The spiders, small and large alike, saw this and charged at the dou for the final assault, hoping to get a meal.

"**Ice Style!"**

"**Lava Style!"**

"**Hot and Cold Pressure!"** The duo was covered up by a large sphere of chakra that began to grow Ice and Lava all around it, steam rising from where the two contacted. It looked like a mini planet about to explode. And it was despite all the spiders stupidly rushing it and then getting fried for their troubles.

"**Pressure Release!" **That was it for the spiders as the mini planet like sphere exploded in a massive explosion, racking the area they were in, making it shatter in a few places as it begun to fall apart.

When it stopped, there stood Haku and Kurotsuchi on their hands and knees, the needed amount of chakra to keep them safe from the back lash taking its toll on them. "That's why we have Naruto for this combination…" Kurotsuchi panted.

"Please tell me we got them." Whined Haku, not caring about his exhausted state.

"**Most but not all young ninja…but this is where you will die for harming my family." **The giant leading spider replied as its smoking and heavily burnt form rose from the ashes of its family. Then two larger spiders arose as well. **"My strongest children will help me."**

"AAAAHHHH!" Haku screamed in fear as he nearly wet his pants….if he hadn't already done that in the first place.

"Mother of fuck." Kurotsuchi cursed under her breath as she looked for a way out. This not something she wanted to fight. Looking around, she saw the inner working of the Labyrinth they were in. There was a far larger one than the others and it had a rather large hole in it. _That must have been where Naruto was taken to. Well, it is a good lead._ "Haku! Make an ice bridge to that large cube in the middle!"

"Already on it!"

"Huh?" Kurotsuchi asked, noticing that Haku's voice sounded a bit distant. That is when she saw that he had already made and was running away for dear life, screaming all the way. The spiders had just noticed this little fact as well, so before they could utter a word about it, Kurotsuchi ran after him. "I'll teach you to bitch out on me!"

The three remaining spiders stared at the scene blankly, wondering what the hell just happened.

XXX

There stood the warden, on a flag pole looking like a badass. He was a tall, lean-built middle aged man who look stoic but his voice said that he was pissed off. He had pale skin, high cheekbones, stubble, and long ragged black hair with brown highlights. His attire consisted of a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, amorphous black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flares out into ragged ends. He wore brown-tinted, semi-transparent wraparound sunglasses.

"Oh man….do we have to fight you as well?" Naruto asked, not sure how this guy fought or if he even wanted to.

"No young ninja. I am the warden of this prison and I am a little surprised that the current leader of the Samurai is using my idea for the Chunin Exams. I was the first to implement it after all."

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Zangetsu and I was the original leader of the Samurai." The man dared. "Before you ask how that is possible, it is because we don't age in here…Me and the Prisoners stay here…forever."

"Whoa…" Naruto replied in awe.

"Screw you old man. I was doing this child a favor and killing his kind!" Ro weakly shouted.

"Hmph." Zangetsu grunted as he disappeared and then reappeared on another flag pole, this time with a large sword in a shape of a meat cleaver and it was covered in blood. "The people of your land are stupidly intolerant." He voice before the boar man exploded in a shower of blood.

"Holy shit! You are good!" Naruto shouted.

"Thank you, but shouldn't you be getting to your team?"

"Oh right." Naruto replied sheepishly, but before he could move, he heard screaming from above. Looking up, he saw Haku running down an ice made bridge. Kurotsuchi right behind him, looking mad as hell. "Oh boy."

"That your team?"

"Yeah, but they look like they went through hell, wonder what happened."

"I can guess." Zangetsu replied as he pointed to the ceiling to reveal three large spiders. "I had forgotten Aragog was in here."

When Haku and Kurotsuchi where near him, Naruto saw that they were burnt and tired while Haku look pretty shaken up. "Wow, you guys look like you when through hell and back, what happened and why is Haku like that?"

"Spiders. Spiders! SPIDERS! **SPIDERS!"** Haku wailed as he waved his arms around frantically.

"Yeah, what he said. He was brave against some whip wielding loon, but bitched out when the Spiders appeared. We had to explode the area we were in to survive the spider attacks." Kurotsuchi replied before looking Naruto over. "You should talk, you look like shit as well."

"You should see the other guy." Naruto replied, pointing to the bloody and twist remains of General Ro.

"Holy shit!" Kurotsuchi shouted.

"Yeah, I didn't finish him, the warden did." Naruto deadpanned before he pointed upwards. "Oh and are those the spiders you tried to escape?"

"AAAAHHHHH!" Haku cried once more.

"Yep." Kurotsuchi whine tiredly but getting ready for another fight.

"You three have fought enough, I'll take care of this myself and then guide you on your way….all I want to do is go back to sleep." Zangetsu said as he stared the three large spiders slipping and sliding down the Iceway Haku and Kurotsuchi came in with. Point his sword their way he shouted,** "Getsuga Tenso!"** A large wave of chakra came out and easily obliterated the three remaining spiders.

"Whoa…" the three genin replied in awe before Haku threw up his hands and shouted, "YOU MY HERO!"

"That's nice, now I assume you three have the mind, body, and soul keys?" Zangetsu asked, getting nods from them. "Then you need not search for the last. All you need is the knowledge of how to acquire the final key. Everyone needs a mind, a body, and a soul to live. But to survive as a warrior, Samurai and Ninja alike, you need Heart!"

Naruto blinked at that as he and his teammates took out their keys. That was when he noticed that keys could connect and if he was correct, it formed the kanji for heart! "Connect the keys!" he ordered. They nodded and he found that he was right!

That was when Zangetsu smiled and the key glowed for a moment before it thrust itself in the ground and turned, making an unlocking sound out through the whole area. With that, the ground underneath the three ninja rose up and kept on going, through the sky, up the tube structure, and up to a small room where Mifune and Misa stood smiling.

"Welcome back."

XXXX

**Yeah, I am done with this chapter, it took too long for my tastes. I hope you liked it and if not then that is your own problem. I have to go to work soon and I am not in the mood. If it really needs it, i will fix all the little mistakes later.  
**

**Now, I know what story I am doing after I finish Breaking the Titan's curse and these ideas aren't for sometime, but tell me, which would you rather see? A Naruto/Borderlands 2 fanfic….or a Naruto/Tomb Raider fanfic based off the new game.**

**Review**


	15. Prelims

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 15**

**Yeah….sorry about the long update. You can blame it in a mixture of extreme laziness and…Ninja Storm 3. Yes, I beat it already. Awesome game and I will admit that I **_**almost**_** shed some manly tears.**

XXX

Naruto sighed as he sat in the stands of an area his team and the other teams in the chunins were currently residing in. As soon the House of Horror was complete, they were all rounded up for the prelims as Mifune put it. No sleep.

Of course, those who had finished early were left alone to rest until the exam was done, but those who had just escaped were on their last legs. Oh well, nothing they could do about it. The arena they were in looked pretty simple, but it was in door. Mifune did say that the real third exam would have the ceiling gone, that meant the cold of Iron Country would be present as well.

These prelims were not what he was expecting. He thought they were going to be one on one fights. No, while that existed, there some strange rules. There could be one on one battles but there could also be one member of a team vs a team or a mixed team vs another mixed team. Any number of combinations were set forth in this exam and it set unease amongst most of the combatants….most anyway, but not Naruto. Mifune said that by working on a team like this would be required of them as future chunin.

He knew what he was capable of thanks to Zabuza and Onoki's training. Plus he felt that his team was ready for something like this. So while certain teams fought, his mind was somewhere else. It was at the time where he and his team got out of the House of Horror.

_Flashback!_

"Well hello there." Misa said with a calm smile but you could tell that she was a bit rattled for some reason.

Naruto smiled and said, "That was fun and all, but please tell me we passed."

Mifune nodded. "Yes, you all passed and guessing from your reactions, you didn't even know how long you have been in there."

"Very good guess, but could you tell us how long we have been in there?" Haku asked politely.

"Four hours." Mifune replied simply, stumping the three genin.

Misa giggled at their reactions. "Seemed longer didn't it?" the group nodded. "That is because time does not flow in there. The area is timeless."

"Zangetsu mentioned something like that but I wasn't really paying attention." Naruto replied truthfully.

Mifune's eyes widened just a bit at them actually meeting the warden and their original leader. Now that was something. "In any case, your team is only the second team to have passed so far."

"Seriously?" Kurotsuchi replied, a bit disbelieving. "Who passed before us?"

"Team 10 from Konoha. The Nara mentioned something about figuring out the riddle soon so that he could sleep instead of fight." Misa replied, making Naruto laugh, thinking that sounded just like Shikamaru.

_End Flashback!_

Naruto was brought out of his musings when the first battle ended. It seemed that Akatsuchi easily beat down the two man team of Choji and Ino. Not surprising to him, Choji was always a good guy at heart and didn't like fighting much. However, he fought as hard as he could to protect his teammate Ino, who was still a fangirl as far as he was concerned.

Returning to the stands, Naruto smiled as his old friend from the academy and said, "There is always next time man."

Choji grinned hearing those words and nodded as he went to go sit down next to Shikamaru while Ino went to go hang around Sasuke.

"That is one match down." Mifune said. "Now we see who fights next." Mifune then point to a large electronic score board.

Lee vs Shino

"YES! I would fight with the Power of Youth on my side!" Lee shouted as he jumped from his seat in the stands to the center of the arena. Shino showed no emotion as he slowly made his way down to the arena himself.

When both combatants were ready, Mifune said, "Begin!"

With that, Lee exploded forward from his position to meet Shino head on in Taijutsu alone. Now Shino was in quite a bind. He knew of Lee's condition from Kurenai and he knew that if his bugs ate Lee's small chakra reserve, the green spandex wearing genin would die. So, he would just stick with Taijutsu so that he would not kill a fellow Leaf Ninja.

However, while skilled in his family's unique taijutsu style, he was no match for Lee's relentless onslaught of his Goken. It was all over place and Shino actually regretted not using his small comrades for this battle. Oh well, there was always next time.

In actuality, Shino was unsure if he could advance in his first time in the Chunin Exams. His father had been….leery of him coming at all and from the stories of the man's own time in the Chunin Exams, Shino felt that he needed more skills and experience. He was right. His senior genin had wiped the floor with him.

Naruto winced when Lee used the primary lotus on Shino. That technique was brutal and it seemed the others shared his view.

He didn't get to muse much on Lee's brutal style of fighting because the next match was already decided.

Samui/Hinata/Temari vs Neji

Now that made his eyebrows rise up. A three woman team, each from different villages against Neji Hyuuga, the supposed Hyuuga Prodigy and Rookie of his year. Well, this would certainly be interesting.

"So, who do you think will win?" Kurotsuchi asked from her seat next to him.

"Hard to say." Naruto replied. From the interactions so far, it seems that Neji, being a branch member, has an intense dislike for Hinata, who is of the main branch. Add in Samui from the Hidden Cloud and Neji will be using a lot of his rage due what happened between Kumo and Konoha."

"That could be in his favor if he uses that rage correctly to power his attacks or he will let them control him." Haku replied on Naruto's other side. "What happened between those two villages?"

Tenten, who over heard them talking, said, "Kumo tried kidnapping Hinata one time so that they could gain a bloodline, but Hinata's father killed the man in his attempt. Kumo wanted compensation for that and Neji's father was given to them and killed."

Haku grimaced at that. Yes, this Neji would hold a lot of anger toward Kumo for that.

Neji, even already in the arena, heard all of this and growled to himself. Forget about fate, this was perfect for his own type of revenge. But to make his 'family' member fight alongside with someone from Kumo made his blood boil! Yes, he didn't care how, but he would win and kill them if he could.

"You three should just give up now." Neji replied. "I am far better skilled then you!"

"Somehow I doubt that." Samui replied

"BEGIN!" Mifune ordered.

Neji wasted no time rushing at the three girls with a fierceness in his eyes. He jumped over Temari's fan strike before landing on said weapon and then kicked her square in the face, knocking her back as he used that momentum to send himself at Hinata's scared form.

Yes, Hinata was not into this at all. The fierceness that her cousin was fighting with was something she was not used to at all. She didn't know that he held in this much anger and it was scaring her. Like Choji, she was not much of a fighter. She preferred healing people to actually fighting them, something her father didn't agree on, which drove her self-confidence through the ground each time they spoke to each other.

However, there was one person who brought a little courage to her heart. Taking a quick glance at the blond Iwa Shinobi, she thought to herself, _Naruto is watching me. This might be my only chance to get him to notice me! _ And that was enough for her. Fighting in front of her crush was enough for her to gain some courage, even if it meant fighting alongside a ninja from Kumo.

In that split second, Hinata steeled herself and met Neji head on, surprising the hell out of him. With their Byakugan's activated, they engaged in a deadly dance of chakra enhanced strikes.

However, with trained eyes, Temari and Samui could see that their temporary teammate was having some trouble fighting someone from her family in such an intense battle. Nodding to each other, Temari struck first, sending a well place blast of wind from her fan to knock the boy out of the way.

Samui took that chance to rush Neji with her blade full of lightning. Not one to be deterred, Neji used the gentle fist style to encase his fingers with chakra to clash with the blade, intent on taking this woman's life. The hate in his eyes saying that much.

Hinata panted harshly as she watched Samui engage Neji for her. She held her left arm in pain and when she looked at it, she gasped at finding out that Neji had hit all the Chakra points in that arm. That was not good.

Temari saw this and asked. "Can you still fight?

"Y-yes, but I can't end this without your help. " Hinata replied.

Temari nodded but inside she was a bit surprised. She thought this Hyuuga was going to be stuck up like her relative, but apparently she was wrong. The male Hyuuga, Neji, was a stuck up bastard, but it seemed he had the power to back him up, if his ongoing battle with Samui was any indication. "What do you need?"

"If I can get him distracted for just a moment, I can probably land a well-placed strike to immobilize him. Maybe if Samui could throw her blade with some wind powering its speed, it could work." Hinata suggested making Temari nod her head at the simple yet effective plan.

With that, Temari called out her ferret summon to distract Neji, if only for a few seconds. Still it was enough for her to relay the message. Samui nodded and threw her blade straight at Neji's head as she rushed at him once more.

Neji, even with his Byakugan off, knew that he could easily dodge this Kumo Ninja's blade. Sure he was surprised when the Sand Ninja used some wind jutsu to make it go faster, but he still dodged it. Or at least he thought he did because he felt the blade slice into his cheek.

That pissed him off. How could be hurt by people beneath him! He was a Hyuuga damnit. He was better them by birth alone! Neji swung back around with a chakra enhanced palm strike, intent on taking the bitch's life with a well-placed strike to the heart.

However, he was stunned to see that Samui had backed away and in her place was Hinata and she struck at him in a mirror move, both Hyuuga striking the other's heart.

Silence. No one spoke as every watch the entire event with bated breath. Kiba and Shino were the most concerned for their teammate. Sure Shino was beat up by Lee, but he was still conscious enough to stay and watch.

Speaking of Lee, he and Tenten were both watching the entire battle was awe before it turned to horror for their teammate.

Still, the final strike left everyone speechless, wanting to know if they were ok or not.

Finally, Neji managed to speak with a weak voice. "Why?"

Hinata, despite the pain, smiled sadly. "I know that you hate me. Ever since that incident, you have always hated me and I can understand somewhat." She took a breath as they stood in a same stance, daring not to move. "That is why, I will do what I can to help you, even if it means beating you."

"W-what?" Neji asked, cursing his own weakness. "Why would bother to help me! I am part of the branch family!"

"It is because you family that I want to help you." Hinata replied, her voice getting weaker, but the conviction in her voice was known. "I will bring the family together and get rid of the Caged Bird Seal. I promise." She paused at that, thinking of what Naruto was like in the academy when he made a promise. "Because that is my nindo, my ninja way!"

Neji was speechless. He did know what to say or how to feel. Maybe, just maybe, he had Hinata pegged wrong. And another thought came to mind at the mention of his seal. She could have use that at any point in the fight but she didn't. Was she truly not like the others of the main branch.

He would have to find out later because a few second later, he collapsed, his heart failing due to the strike. Hinata soon joined him on the floor, the two Hyuugas lying next to each other as the match was called and the medics rushed the two of them to the infirmary.

Mifune sighed as he waited for the next match to begin. He was not sure how, but it seemed something big had happened between the two Hyuugas. He just hoped what was said got through to the boy. And it seemed that others in this exam were thinking the same way.

Turning his head to the multiple hidden cameras around the arena, he had one thought on his mind. _Are you watching, Hiashi Hyuuga? Your daughter is not weak for wanting to help others._

Still, Hinata had been knocked out of the exams, but her temporary teammates were able to advance since she basically won it for them.A ping sounded throughout the arena and all looked at the scoreboard for the next match.

Suzumebachi vs Kabuto

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that as the two combatants made their way down to the arena. He had a good feeling that Suzumebachi would win this but he was just not sure about Kabuto's power. Still, his mind was not really paying attention to this battle even as it started.

He was miffed that a single glance in his direction could change that girl's resolve in a high stakes moment like that. How was it that he gave her courage? Sure he was loud and obnoxious in the academy, but to draw strength from that? He was just not sure. He also doubted that she liked him that much either.

Still, he had to admit that last tactic of hers was a good one, dangerous considering her opponent, but good nonetheless in the use of a distraction to pull off the win for her team.

Kurotsuchi on the hand was a bit pissed off. From the moment that girl tried getting in the little Harem Naruto had accidently made, the other girls thought the young Hyuuga didn't have it in her to make a move like that! It spoke of her character just a bit. If Hinata could use a distraction like that in battle, could she do that somehow in real life to get Naruto?

Hinata Hyuuga would require a watchful eye in her opinion.

Temari also though the same thing as she locked eyes with Kurotsuchi, Misa, and Fu.

For those actually paying attention to the battle at hand and not their love lives, the battle between Suzumebachi and Kabuto was not over. However, it was not a spectacular battle seeing that Kabuto lost.

The next battle was Fu against her two teammates with the Cloud Ninja Omoi on their side. However, Fu's teammates knew that they were no match for her and even with Omoi's sword skills on their side, they lost with little effort of Fu's part.

The same could be said for Kurotsuchi and Guren's battle. Guren did her best with her Crystal Style jutsu, it just wasn't enough. Kurotsuchi beat Guren, but not without trouble. The two girls were highly skilled and neither would go down. In the end, all Kurotsuchi had to do was blow up the little landscape Guren had created to mimic her boyfriend's Ice Tundra. Of course that left Kurotsuchi in bad shape but she still won.

Now Naruto felt bored out of his mind. While the battles were entertaining, he really wanted to get out there and fight as well! So, staring at the scoreboard in hopes that it would reveal his name, he was disappointed to find out that that it was all of Team 7 vs Karui, Haku, and Tenten. Now that made his eyes widen….well after complaining about not being able to fight that is.

Still, that new line up interested him. Hinata's make shift team managed to win thanks to her, he wondered if Haku could pull it off with Karui and Tenten.

XXX

Surprisingly no, he could not. That team just could not mesh with each other. Haku, while being calm and collected most of the time, could not handle the free for all that his battle basically was. Tenten, didn't feel comfortable fighting alongside them that much and went nuts with her weapons, which managed to put Sakura out of commission. Plus, her personality didn't mesh well with Karui's and they were often seen butting heads. That lead to Sai, beating her with his Ink Based Jutsu.

Sure, while Sasuke managed keep up the fight with Haku, he was about to lose, but once again Sai, came up with an aerial ink jutsu and dropped said ink on his ice mirrors, blinding him for a few second, which was all Sasuke needed to use a well place fireball to knock the ice user out.

That left Karui all by herself. However, she was easily fooled by Sai's Ink Clone when it melted, which left her open for a Sharingan enhanced genjutsu from Sasuke that took her out of the battle.

Honestly, Naruto thought Haku could have pulled it off, but after hanging out with Karui and her team, he guessed it was a reasonable lose. Still, he should have been used to strong willed girls thanks to Kurotsuchi being on their team. Maybe it was just a trust issue…oh well.

Gaara vs Kiba

Kiba blinked at that before smirking. Sure he didn't know much about Gaara other than he knew Naruto and the blond, while being related to someone strong like the Fourth, was still weak in his opinion. So that meant Gaara was weak….right? Oh well whatever, he would win and gloat about it later.

"Come on Akamaru, we got this in the bag!" Kiba shouted as he made his way down to the arena. Akamaru looked at his human partner nervously. Sure Kiba was brash, but come on, if he just used his instincts, the human would know that this battle was a bad idea. Ugh, the things he did for love.

Gaara stared at his opponent with disinterest. He could tell that the dog was wary of him, which was smart, but Kiba thought he had this in the bag…fool. The Inuzuka didn't even know the extent of his power!

Oh well, he would find out today, but he would not kill the dog user. He was beyond simple killings thanks to Naruto beating some sense into him. He owed Naruto a lot for what he did and he will always be grateful for pulling him out the darkness.

"Begin." Mifune stated as the two stood across from each other.

Kiba wasted no time rushing at Gaara with kunai drawn. He was a bit confused as to why Gaara was just standing there with his arms crossed like that, but the confusion soon wore off to annoyance when a wall of sand blocked his attempt at close combat.

"Fine! You want to play like that!" Kiba roared as he and Akamaru performed their man beast clone jutsu to look like feral versions of each other. "**Fang over Fang**!" He roared as he and Akamaru came spiraling in on both sides of Gaara.

Still, his sand defense came with each attack, and Kiba just kept up his attacks until he was out of breath. Even he doubted a smoke bomb with work in this battle.

Gaara merely blinked when Kiba took a rest. "Is that it? Very well, my turn."

"Wha-?" Kiba managed to say as he and Akamaru were knocked into the air by a wall of sand. It only took a few seconds, but was still shell shocked by how fast the event happened. When he finally noticed that he and Akamaru were in two separate cocoons of sand, he said, "What the hell is this?"

"My Sand Coffin." Gaara droned out. "Give up now or I will crush you." To make his point known, the coffin around Akamaru tightened just a bit, making the dog whimper.

"OK! I give up! Just let Akamaru go!" Kiba pleaded, not wanting to see his best friend die in front of him….or at all for that matter.

Mifune nodded to this acceptance as Gaara immediately let the two go. "Winner is Gaara of the Sand!"

Kiba quickly made his way up the stands to stand in front of Naruto. "The hell man, you couldn't have warned me?"

Naruto gave Kiba planned look. "Would you have listened to my warning? After all, I have fought him and won."

Kiba paled at that. He had been wrong, dead wrong. It seemed that Naruto was stronger than he thought and to beat someone as skilled with sand like Gaara? That was nuts! "Right…sorry man. I probably would have just ignored you."

Before Naruto could answer, his match had been called.

Naruto vs Shikamaru/Yoroi/Misumi

"Finally!" Naruto groaned. "Of course I get the last battle." Grumbling as he made his way down, he saw Mifune smirk in his direction just a bit. What? What the samurai expecting some huge battle from him. Whatever, like not much could happen with Shikamaru's lazy ass, could it?

As Shikamaru stood across from Naruto, he tooked to his temporary teammates and sighed. This was such a drag, but he would deal with it. Already his mind was racing on how he would fight Naruto and win. However, the concept of winning was a difficult task to achieve when one knows nothing of how Naruto fights. He would have to wing it.

"Yoroi. Misumi, I need you two to engage him in combat. I need to know what he can do so that I can think up a strategy to win." Shikamaru stated.

The two nodded, already used to taking orders from Kabuto. As soon as Mifune sadi to begin, the two rushed the blond. Said blond rose an eyebrow at their tactics and decided to let them try and beat him. He too wanted to know what they could do and was not disappointed when Misumi wrapped his rubber limbs around him in an attempt to immobilize him. Yoroi then came in and placed a palm on his chest, the affect sucking chakra out of him.

However, Naruto didn't feel it due to him have an insane amount of chakra, something that Yoroi was sweating about. "If that is all you two have, then this battle is already over." Naruto said as he turned into his black smoke form and easily got out of Misumi's grasp.

Shikamaru watched all of this with a calculating look. He noticed the orange glow emitting from Naruto's metal hand. There, he saw a small orange gem, which must have been allowing him to pull of that smoke from of his. Still, as he watched Naruto play with his temporary teammates, he was not able to see much of his fighting style.

"Damn, guess I just need to capture him in my shadow and hope they can take care of the rest….like break that gem." Shikamaru muttered to himself. He waited for the right moment to send it out. He watched their shadows dance along the ground as he thought up a way to capture the tricky blond.

_There! _ He thought as he sent his shadow into the shadows of his teammates to extend his range and reach Naruto. Surprisingly it worked. "Shadow Possession Success."

"Good work." Yoroi replied, a little out of breath from the small fight and Naruto's constant dodging thanks to that strange smoke.

"Yes, now use that drain power you have to weaken him more and then break that gem on his metal hand." Shikamaru replied.

"Sorry, Shikamaru, but you lost." Naruto voice cut him off.

"And how do you figure that Naruto? I have you captured." Shikamaru replied, a little on edge due to the blond's calm look.

"Your jutsu is not a true bloodline jutsu. "Naruto replied. "With the right know how, anyone could learn how to do your jutsu."

Ok, Shikamaru didn't like where this was going. "And you do?"

"Nope!" Naruto chirped, almost making Shikamaru release the jutsu so that he could slap his own face. However, that dark smile appeared on the blond's face, making Shikamaru nervous. "I have something better." With that, the orange glow was back, something that Shikamaru cursed, not thinking that Naruto could use it while paralyzed by his shadow.

In addition to the orange glow, Naruto's eyes went Sharingan, making Yoroi and Musumi sweat a bit. **"Reaper's Shadow!"** At those words, the indoor arena darkened considerably. The darkness seemed to be converging around the blond for a few seconds before it shot out to his opponents.

When the light returned, Shikamaru opened his eyes to see darkness or shadow surrounding Naruto as he his hood was up and his red Sharingan eyes were the only think he could see of his face. He then turned his head to his temporary teammates to see them writhing in cocoons of shadows. Looking back to himself, he saw that he was unmarred by the shadows that have captured his teammates. Although the odd thing was that he was still in control of his own shadow. He followed it to the cocoons. _How did he do that?_ Somehow, Naruto had redirected his shadow to encase his temporary teammates.

Suddenly, the darkness of Naruto's face broke to reveal not only the red eyes of the Sharingan, but also his unnaturally white teeth. "Well, Shikamaru, it has been a nice battle, but it is over." As he brought his hand in a snapping motion, Shikamaru then saw the figure behind the blond. A giant image of THE Grim Reaper. **"Shadow Flame!"** With a snap of his fingers, the cocoons encasing Yoroi and Musumi burst in black flames. Thankfully, Shikamaru had enough self-preservation to release his jutsu before it travelled to him. Still, this was something he was not prepare for.

Had Naruto changed that much since he left Konoha to attack to brutally like that. He didn't get to think much on it because of the blade of a scythe was looped around his neck from behind. Eyeing his attacker from the corner of his eye, he saw that it was indeed Naruto, a grim look on his face.

"Do you yield?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed. He knew he would get no end of flak from Ino and his mother about this, but he would rather not die just yet. "Yeah, I give up."

XXX

After the medic had taken Yoroi and Musumi out of the arena, Mifune demanded everyones attention again. "You have all fought well. Now I must inform you all of one difference that the Chunin Exams here have. From the moment you passed the Great Prison Maze Exam, you were eligible to be Chunin no matter if you lost. However, that is for your Kages to asses. Still, the Final Exam will be in about a month's time. Then, you shall return here where those from around the world will watch you fight you next set of matches. For those that cannot make it, it will be televised."

So there was more? They should have known. Still, it was good to know that others that fought could advance in rank. If Naruto had to guess, that mostly revolved around those team based battles.

"That being said, here are the matches for the next round." Mifune stated as the scoreboard flashed through names. "Samui vs Fu. Kurotsuchi vs Temari. Lee vs Naruto. Sasuke vs Sai. Gaara vs Akatsuchi. Suzumebachi will relieve a bye to the next round. Train hard for the next round, you may leave my village to train anywhere in the world, but remember, be back in one month's time for you battle." Mifine looked at all the contestants before saying "Dismissed."

XXX

The Third Hokage turned off the small TV he had in his office. Their teachers were already on their way to pick them up to take them home or train them some more for the Final Exam. He had been impressed to what he had seen and he was more than willing to promote just a few of them. Hell, he already had a few in mind.

Still, he wished that Naruto was still with Konoha, his power had grown and his battle had been interesting. The clever use of his Real Genjutsu to manipulate Shikamaru's shadow was impressive.

However, his musings where cut short with a knock on the door. "Enter." He said and he was irked to find that Danzo was entering his office. What did that War Hawk want now?

"Danzo."

"Sarutobi…" Danzo replied in a tone that the old Kage knew well. Anger. "When?"

"When what?"

"Cut the crap! When are you going to personally knock down the Tsuchikage's front door to reclaim our weapon!"

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at Danzo. "Naruto is not a weapon. He is a human being."

"He is nothing but a weapon for this village and you know it! I demand that you reclaim him now! This farce of a civil war can only last so long. SO what if he is Minato's Son! He is our weapon and nothing will change that! TAKE. HIM. BACK!"

"I will not do that. Unlike you, I will not cause a war just to reclaim him. From what I have seen so far, he is happy where he is and had grown powerful."

"Feh, happiness. If you had given him to me what I asked, he would not have emotions and all this could have been avoided!" Danzo raged.

"Regardless, I answer is final Danzo and don't you think you of all people can order me to do anything." Sarutobi replied in a dangerous tone, daring Danzo to defy him.

Danzo seethed in silent rage as his cane was cracked under the pressure of his anger. Finally, after a small glaring contest, he made and way to the door. When he stopped at the doorway, he said, "I have tried to reason you Sarutobi, but you won't see reason. I will have my way."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise." Danzo then slammed the door as he left the old Kage to contemplate his next move. He had a very bad feeling about this.

XXXXX

**Aaaaand I am done with this chapter. In the words of Shikamaru, What a drag. Seriously with all the rain we've been getting, it has drained my energy. Now I have to go to work…fucking joy. So sorry if you think the quality for this chapter is a bit rough...i just didn't have the nergy to care.  
**

**Also in case you are wondering, yes, Sarutobi and Danzo will eventually end up in a fight…just you wait! Still, that if far off for now.**

**So…Review please, I need MORE! **


	16. Final Rounds: Samui vs Fu

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 16**

**Yeah, sorry about the long update. I have been feeling like crap lately and could not think of good filler for the month long training. So….i am just going to do some beginning things and then get right to it. That….and I broke my lawn mower…..hit the blade on a water pipe and somehow broke the crank shaft. Don't ask. Oh and kudos to the ONE guy who made the dog connection. Akamaru mentioned 'The things he did for love', is what Courage the Cowardly Dog says. Return the slab or suffer my curse! Man, I miss the old Cartoon Network. This new generation SUCKS! Bring back Ed, Edd, and Eddy!**

**Enjoy the chapter**

Naruto happily flopped down on his bed in Mifune's mansion. The prelims were over and he had a lot of training to do. Honestly, he was a little wary of his fight with Lee. He knew he had good taijutsu and his other areas were great, but he knew Lee was a beast in the taijutsu department.

Kurotsuchi walked in with her nightwear and rose an eyebrow. "What's on your mind Naruto?"

"Just my fight with Lee. Not sure how I going to fight him with just Taijutsu."

"Why can't you beat normally?"

"I just wanna fight him on even terms." Naruto stated.

"That's sweet, but I doubt he got here on coddling alone. Kick spandex-ed ass down to the core of the earth!" Kurotsuchi declared with a fist pump.

Naruto sweat dropped before he just shrugged it off. In the end it was his choice how he fought. "So what are you going to your fight?"

"Oh I have a few things in mind, but I heard that my dad is taking me to a cousin in Kiri now that she is the Mizukage. His is thinking that she can help me with my Lava Style."

"That's great! So I guess they got out of that civil war a little earlier than most would expect."

"Yep!" Kurotsuchi chirped happily. "What about you? Who will train you?"

"I think your grandpa. He is going to teach me the dust style…or his personal Taijutsu style.i think."

"That's cool, but they work in sync with each other, just so you know." Kurotsuchi stated, making shrug since he honestly didn't know. Kurotsuchi went quiet for a moment as her thoughts raced. "Hey Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"I get that you have to take on multiple wives thanks to dad wanting your clan in our village, but for this one night, can it just be me and you?"

"Of course, but I am confused on why you are asking." Naruto replied.

The Rock Princess giggled a bit before she smashed her lips to the blond's. "I am asking because I want to do a little love making before I have to actually share you. Hell, Fu is already past most of us."

Naruto blushed pretty hard at that. "Are you sure?! I mean, are you ready for something like that and what if you get pregnant?! Plus…we're 14!"

"Oh I got that covered. Tsunade taught me a certain jutsu if this ever happened and I am ready because to me age is just a number and spending all this time with you, I can say that I do love you."

Naruto stared at the girl before him in awe. "I love you too." He said he before he smashed his lips to hers.

XXX (Yeah, next time people. I don't feel like doing a lemon at the moment)

Sarutobi sighed as he sign yet another paper. Paper was truly the ban of every Kage's existence! Seriously, why couldn't people handle that crap themselves, in fact, why couldn't he just push this shit on someone else? Forget one person, why not more than one?

Oh right, the Clan Heads had paperwork of their own and if he pushed his paperwork on them, he would get more and more complaints, resulting in more damnable paperwork.

It was a vicious cycle that never ends!

"Ugh, I hate my life." Hiruzen cried with anime tears running down his face, making his ANBU think he had gone insane.

_Knock Knock!_

"Oh thank god! Get in here, hurry!" Sarutobi almost screamed out, however, he did regret his outburst when he saw who entered his office. It was none other than Hiashi Hyuuga.

However, there was something different about the man. A little known fact about Hiashi was that he didn't act like a normal Hyuuga when not around his own family or in an important situation. He was a somewhat normal guy. He could thank being on Minato's team for that.

That being said, Hiashi smirked. "I see you are getting desperate to get awesome that evil concoction of paper. I am in the same boat."

"Oh…glad to know I am not the only one suffering. Anyway, I am glad I have someone to talk to while on my break." Hiruzen stated with a cracked smile. The paperwork was obviously getting to him.

"I saw the footage of my daughter fighting. It was…impressive." Hiashi stated with a small smile. "I sometimes forget that she is just like my wife used to be."

"Too bad she had to face Neji while fighting alongside a Kumo ninja." The Old Hokage stated.

"Yes…made him not think clearly, but after what happened, I am surprised that Hinata let go of old grudges to win the match for her team." Hiashi stated.

"Yes and it is quick thinking like that, that I am thinking of promoting her. She kept calm when faced with a difficult task and lead her team to victory. She has what it takes to be a Chunin…now she just needs some polishing." At Hiashi's depressed look, he continued. "And need to start acting like her father, not her clan head."

"I know…but after so long it is hard. Hell every time I try, it ends in disaster and the Elders want to me to place the caged bird seal on her. My own father, her grandfather thinks she is a failure, even after they saw the footage. They say that she just should have used the seal instead of degrading herself to his level."

"Hiashi, you should do something that I started doing recently myself. Ignore them. That is the only way to move forward and something I should have done when Naruto was first born."

"I guess we both have regrets." Hiashi sighed.

"You have no idea." Sarutobi replied while thinking about Naruto and his old student Orochimaru. "A recent one is Danzo. I should have just killed him."

"I agree with you there. I heard about his threat." Hiashi stated with his stoic face. "I will back you if needed."

"Thanks old friend." The Hokage stated with a sad smile.

"Anytime." Hiashi said as he got up to leave. "Oh and I will try to be a better father when Hinata gets back."

XXX

In the tallest tower of Rain Country, a man stood, staring out on the city in a constant state of rain. This man, no this god was the deity of this place and he watched over his land with little to no emotion. He had no need for emotions. They only got in the way.

This man was Pain, a supposed God with the legendary Rinnegan. However, this body of his was not really his. The real him was hidden for protection. No, this body was the body of his deceased friend from the old days. Back when they were fighting to take Rain from Hanzo the Salamander.

"Did you hear?" A voice ran out to the god like man. Pain looked to his left to see another man, a man that even he feared, appear out of a single twisting of the air. This was the so called Madara Uchiha…and for some reason, also known as Tobi. However, the point of the matter is that Madara Uchiha should be dead, but here he stands, a testament to his power. Pain could even see the fabled Sharingan eye beyond the hole of his orange swirled mask. That powerful eye on a background of black. That trait did confuse him, but it didn't matter. Madara was alive and he was far younger that expected.

"About Konoha's civil war regarding their jinchuriki?" Pain replied.

"Yes. I think with young Naruto gone from the place, we have a chance to get rid of that village once and for all. Hiruzen is weak from age and his ninja are at a disadvantage with their own hatred. Plus, Danzo himself is still alive. It would be the perfect time to take your own revenge."

"Then I will…after the Chunin Exams are done and they are all in their safe little village. I will lead the Akatsuki in and destroy that abomination once and for all. With our power, we don't need the Bijuu just yet."

"Exactly." 'Madara' stated. "I also doubt you need the Three Gods of Heaven, Earth, and Hell to take out a few down powered ninja."

"No, only one God is need for this and that is me, the God of Pain."

"Indeed." 'Madara' stated as he left in the same swirl as he came in.

XXX

The next day, Naruto watched as Kurotsuchi left with her dad for her training with a slight limp in her walk. Heh. She was in good hands now. He just hoped her father didn't notice and kill him for what he did.

"I see my granddaughter has that special glow about her. I see that you two had some fun before you had to train your asses off. Onoki stated as he walked up from behind his student.

_Oh crap…I can never get a break._ Naruto inwardly groaned. "Yeah, so what kind of training do you have in mind for me this month?"

Onoki gained a twinkle in his eyes at the mention of training. He was going to punish the blond for what he did. What? He knew this was going to happen sooner or later; can't an old man have some hypocritical fun? "Well, if you are going to be _my_ successor, I will have to teach you Dust Style…like the Second Tsuchikage did. A sort of, Rite of Passage if you will."

"Does this include Taijutsu? I am fighting am expert in that area in the finals."

"Oh ho ho! You bet boy! We will have _so_ much _fun_!" Onoki laughed creepily.

"Why do I get the feeling that this will be painful?" Naruto groaned.

"You have no idea." Onoki stated. "I going to put you through what Mu did to me. In the end, you are going to be thanking me! AH HAHAHAHA!"

"Oh god." Naruto paled.

XXX One month later. (Writing about training is extremely boring….i am skipping right to the finals because I can. Deal with it. Plus, I want to get to the Konoha Destruction sooner!)

As Mifune looked around, he noticed that the open air arena was full of life. Despite the harsh cold air of Iron Country, diplomats, ninja, and civilians all crowded the place. It was events like this that brought people together despite the cold.

It brought a small smile to his lips.

"You seem happy, Mifune." A voice to his left said.

It was none other than Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, extremely glad to get away from that damnable paperwork and to see some great fights. In fact, all the Kages were here and they were in the Leader's Box. A special area where only the leaders of each country and their personal body guards can be in. It was high above the stands so that they could get a perfect view of each battle. And for the elderly like Sarutobi and Onoki, there were TV screens places at different angles.

"Indeed I am. It is not every day that one of the leaders of Iron Country can host such an event that brings people from all over the world together like this." Mifune stated.

"Yes, but this tournament is a replacement for the horrors of war. We have our young teen ninja aged fight each other in mortal combat for a war replacement and to see if they are ready for the next level of our ninja ranks." Sarutobi stated.

"When you put it that way, it makes us seem like monsters. They are kids after all." A sensual voice of a woman stated with a deadpan. This was Mei Terumi, a cousin of Kurotsuchi. She was also the Mizukage.

"Bah! These brats can take it." A large dark skinned man stated with an air of finality. This was A, the Raikage.

"The Mizukage does have a point, but I guess there is some value to what this tournament represents." The Kazekage stated with a bored expression on his face.

"Enough about ethics." The Tsuchikage stated. "I say we just get this tournament underway!"

"Eager to show off your prize pupil?" Sarutobi asked.

Onoki glared at the Hokage. "Yes. I can assure you that threw away something of great value."

"I concur." The Kazekage stated.

"We'll see." The Raikage replied with his arm's crossed. He himself wanted to see if this alliance with Iwa was worth it with the son of Minato Namikaze at the center of it all.

"I am interested in this boy as well, he is the teammate to my little cousin that I prepped for this tournament." The Mizukage replied. "She spoke greatly of him."

"Very well," Mifune stated as he turned his back to the Kage and addressed the arena's audience. "People of the Elemental Nations! I welcome you to the third Chunin Exams held by Iron Country. This event has always brought in some powerful competition and some spectacular fights! Now, without further waiting, I say we get the final round of the Chunin Exams underway!" At this, the entire crowd roared with approval.

"Now, let me all introduce you to my daughter and the proctor of these fights, Misa, my daughter!" said silver haired girl walked out onto the arena as waved as the crowd roared once more.

"Will the first two fighters come down to the arena." Misa shouted amongst the noise. "This first fight is Samui of Kumo vs Fu of Taki!"

Said girls Body Flicker down to the arena, already having their pre-fight glare off.

"Begin!" Misa declared as she jumped away.

The two kunoichi stood stock still as they glared at one another. Samui then slid out her tanto and the tow rushed at one another, Samui with her tanto and Ku with a kunai.

Trying to slash at each other was proving to be of no use, so Samui opted for a jutsu that a friend of hers, Darui, helped her create, but before she could do that, she had to get away from a swarm of horned beetles that were trying to bite her.

"My special arm bands aren't going to affect you like they do men, so I'll just settle with draining your chakra dry with my beetles." Fu declared.

"What? Like the Aburame Clan?" Samui asked, not liking her odds.

"Sort of, but when they take chakra from you, they bite you and poison you…have fun with that." Fu offered with a cheery smile.

Samui muttered an 'uncool' under her breath as she sliced away at all the small bugs trying to take a bite out of her. Finally, one hit its mark and Samui already back to the feel the weakening effects of the bug's poison. Thinking that enough was enough, she charged lightning into her blade as plunged it into the ground.

"**Lightning Fissure!"** Just as the name sounds, the attack created a fissure in the ground that when right at the green haired jinchuriki. Thankfully, Fu jumped out of the way in time, but the attack did scare her a bit.

"I am not done yet!" Samui called out. "**Four Corners Lightning Fissure!"** like before , the fissures branched out from all four sides of her, but the odd thing was that they just stayed there, the lightning raising up from the fissure and just stayed there, like it was waiting for something. Which was Samui's next move.

"**Lightning Style: White Lightning Guardian!"** The fissure's that Samui had created started to expand until the area around her looked like one of those Simon Says toys with the lightning turning white and raising far above her. The element then started to twist around itself until it created a serpent like entity that coiled around Samui protectively.

Despite the poison in her system, Samui had managed to create her ultimate jutsu. However, it took an obscene amount to chakra to maintain and she really only had one shot at this. 3 minutes. She better make it worth it or else she was in trouble.

XXX

In the Leader's Box, A whistled in appreciation. "So that's the jutsu her and Darui were making. Impressive!"

"Indeed." Mei replied with a smile. "However, a jutsu of that much power must be difficult to maintain."

"Yeah, he said they were having problems with that." A grimaced.

"Whatever the case may be, it is still impressive for a genin." Sarutobi replied, getting nods from the other Kage.

XXX

Fu, saw the signs of immediate fatigue on the blond's face and knew she could not hold that jutsu for long. Analyzing the technique, she noticed that the lightning was completely stable. The wall of lightning surrounding her was acting as an electrified wall, a good defense and the serpent was acting as the attack, a good offense. This jutsu was an all in one and powerful to boot. But…it was costly no doubt, which meant sooner or later, it would destabilize.

And Fu had a plan to quicken that effect. **"Secret Jutsu: Hiding in Scale Powder!" **With that, she exhaled a bright golden powder that covered the area, blinding Samui due to its reflective abilities.

"Ugh! What is this?!" Samui growled out. Whatever this powder was, it got past her lightning barrier. So, for a moment, she got angry and lost control sending her guardian right at the greenette.

Fu planned for this. She quickly jumped as the beast came at her. While in the air, she channeled her Tailed Beast's chakra and called out her next jutsu, "**Secret Jutsu: Parasitic Control!" **Jumping onto the lightning serpent's body, she slammed her fist into its head, feeding Chomei's chakra into the attack and taking full control of it.

Now that caught a lot of attention, but due to Fu's earlier jutsu, Samui was completely oblivious. "I am ending this battle now, Attack!" She ordered the guardian as it sailed straight at the oblivious blond while Fu herself jumped off.

As soon as it connected with Samui's barrier, it created a grinding noise, making two things actually happen. One, the whole jutsu was staring to destabilize and two, it was creating sparks, which was enough for the still present powder, igniting it in a full on explosion.

Samui was sent flying out of it, badly burnt as she hit a wall as she was knocked out.

It was quiet for a while as everyone in the audience was quiet for a long time, the explosion really something else before Misa found her voice and declared Fu the winner.

XXX

In the competitor's box, Naruto whistled. "Damn, using someone else's jutsu against them….ok will you all quit copying me!"

"It was fair Naruto, quit complaining." Sasuke said. He had enjoyed the battle, and that guardian jutsu had given him an idea thanks to his new abilities that Kakashi had taught him. However, he would have to try it out later.

"Yes! It was a most youthful battle!" Lee shouted.

"Lee, please keep it down, you're scaring people." Sai stated.

"Oh you're one to talk!" Kurotsuchi growled out before she went over to Naruto. "My match is next, want to give me a little good luck?"

"You bet!" Naruto said before his lips met with hers in heated passion.

"Damn! Save that for the bedroom!" Suzumebachi yelled out, a little jealous herself.

"Oh alright." Kurotsuchi replied before she smirked at Temari, challenging her to make a move. Said blond sent back a murderous glare, the tension very high.

"Next match, Kurotsuchi of Iwa vs Temari of Suna." Misa's voice rang out, cutting through the tension.

"Oh this is going to be fun." Temari grinned.

XXXX

**And this is where I am cutting it off. I am tired. I just got done with Portal 2 and then I finished this chapter. I am kind of pissed because to me, the ending for Portal 2 sucked!**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed Samui and Fu's battle along with some early spoilers to what will be going down. Heh.**

**Next Chapter is Kurotsuchi vs Temari(catfight over Naruto!) and Naruto vs Lee. You better believe that is going to cause some destruction.**

**Now if you will excuse me, I have to finish NPU3.**

**Review!**


	17. The Heart of a Warrior

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 17**

**Sorry, I have no excuse other than when I get off work, I have been lazy as of late. Speaking of which, I have another of **_**those**_** bosses. I honestly thought I would be done with that type of management when Ryan left. All he did when closing was push his work on all of us while he texted in the office. Now our newer boss does the same thing, no matter if you are done with your work and it is time for you go, she just keep you there so she has less to fucking do! Bitch. Oh well. At least i was FINALLY able to get this out.  
**

XXXX

Kurotsuchi stared across the field as her opponent. She knew she could win this one. But that thought lead to another. How much stronger had Temari gotten in a month? With a teammate like Naruto, who would use shadow clones with training, she had to be wary of what other people did for their own training.

She herself trained with her cousin in Kiri, who was now the freaking had to win, not only for herself, but for her family. She would not let her training go to waste!

Temari was nervous, although no one could tell due to her ever present confident smirk. She was a true kunoichi, unlike the wimps from Konoha. Seriously, they were all freaking fan girls! However, her opponent was like her. A true kunoichi and there was also the fact that Kurotsuchi was family to the Tsuchikage. They most likely grew up the same way, having to be powerful and respectful.

Yes, this battle would be interesting for her. But who would win? She didn't see much of what the Iwa Nin could do during the prelims. Oh well, Wind Vs Earth was not bad.

"Begin!" Misa chirped, bring the two out of their musings as they found themselves back in reality and the many people staring at them from the stands. Waiting for another great fight.

Temari nodded to herself, this battle would be great. This was a battle between true kunoichi. And there was the fact that she was fighting to prove herself worthy to Naruto…something her opponent was probably doing as well.

"Very well, at least this fight will be interesting." Temari stated.

"How do you figure that?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"This fight, is between true kunoichi, not the fakes created from fan girls." Temari stated, which made a lot of people in the stand quiet down to hear what was being said. "A fight to show what women are capable fighters, just like men! Also, this is a fight between who gets Naruto."

At this, everyone face vaulted. None more so than Kurotsuchi. "You just contradicted yourself there. In a sense, we are fan girls, but at least we do what it takes to get strong! We will need that in a world like this if we want to be with the one we love." Kurotsuchi declared. "However, if you really want to be with Naruto as well, you will have to prove it to me. Show me what you got!"

"I intend to." Temari declared as the two rushed at each other.

XXX

"Tsk, I was the first girl that idiot wanted." Sakura growled, a bit annoyed.

"Yeah, I never saw the appeal." Kiba commented, getting a laugh out of Ino. "I mean seriously, all you ever did with hit the guy for just talking to you half the time. That and the fact that you are not that pretty to begin with. Hell, Ino is way hotter that you!"

While Ino blushed, Sakura rounded on the Inuzuka and growled, "What was that dogshit!?"

"And the temper too, can't forget that." Kiba replied, unaware of his own peril.

"CHA!" Sakura yelled as she decked Kiba.

"Sakura, Kiba does bring up very valid points." Shino stated. "Instead of being jealous, just be happy for him that he found someone. Do not be a stereotype."

Sakura blinked at that. "Huh?" was the intelligent reply.

XXX

Kurotsuchi leant back as Temari's fan flew over her. In quick succession, The Iwa Kunoichi followed up with an upper cut that Temari backed away from. Shutting her fan, the Suna Kunoichi tried to slam it into the hit of her opponent, but Kurotsuchi managed to evade it.

After that, they two jumped away from each other. This was getting them nowhere. Temari did not train herself for close range combat, she was a distance fighter. The close range fighting would them nowhere as this point.

"Fine, you want to play long range, that is fine with me!" Kurotsuchi shouted. "**Lava Style: Quicklime Bullets!**" She then spit out 10 hardened bullets of rock at Temari.

"Feh, what a joke." Temari replied, "**Wind Style: Cutting Winds Protection!"** The sky darkened quickly as 4 thin tornados dropped down around Temari, cutting the hardened rocks to bits.

Kurotsuchi grunted in approval. "Nice trick you got there, but judging from the sweat on your face, it takes a lot of control for it to work, huh? How long can you hold it?"

"Long enough to beat you!" Temari retorted. "However, I cannot move from this or it will be cancelled. Good thing I have Kamatari! **Summoning Jutsu: Kamatari!"**

In a poof of smoke, a giant, white-furred weasel with an eye-patch covering his left eye, appeared. In his hands was lethal looking sickle. It looked around, noticing Kurotsuchi and then Temari and her defense jutsu. "What? You still can't get that jutsu to attack and defend?"

"One or the other, but I need time!" Temari said.

"Fine, I'll fighter for ya." It said before it shot out of the tornados.

Kurotsuchi cursed. She knew this was bad, but thankfully she used to spar with Naruto when he used the Scythe. This could be much worse, right? Nope!

Taking out a kunai, she did her best at fighting a weasel with a sickle. Yeah, that wasn't weird at all! When she finally saw an opening, she drop kicked the larger than normal weasel, knocking him out.

When the blond saw this, she growled. "Oh hell no bitch! **Wind Style: Great Tornado Dragon!"** The four tornados began to twist around each other until the structure took on the form of a giant chinese dragon.

"Oh….crap." Kurotsuchi murmured. However, she could do nothing at the giant wind construct slammed into her and then flung her into the air, where it opened its massive jaw, showing her what the inside look like. Thousands of large wind blade, just waiting to slice her up.

"No!" She screamed. She would not die like that! Not after all that Mei had taught her! "**Lava Style: High Powered Eruption!**" She took in a deep breath before a torrent of lava blasted out of her mouth. Once the lava hit the wind, two things happened. The current of the winds directed the flow of the lava as it traveled along it towards Temari and it quickly cooled, freezing the dragon in a picturesque way and trapping the wind user in it.

However, Kurotsuchi wasn't done yet. As she fell, she smirked and said, "Boom!" The result was the structure being completely obliterated, tearing everything asunder. Plus as an added affected, it softened the decent down for Kurotsuchi.

When she landed, she looked through the smoke and dust to see Temari not in the place she expected. The blond was actually where she left the weasel, who was standing protectively over her. He also looked in bad shape.

"I will not let you harm my summoner!"

"How did she get over here to begin with?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Reverse Summoning." Kamatari sighed tiredly. He then looked around and saw all the spectators and sighed again. "So, this is the Chunin Exams that she was talking about." Looking back at Temari to see that he was just unconscious, he said, "If it will keep her alive, we give up."

"I wasn't going to kill her, but it is for the best" Kurotsuchi replied tiredly. That combination jutsu was exhausting.

"Well, that sure was an explosive ending. We now have a winner, Kurotsuchi from Iwa!" Misa declared and again the crowd went wild.

XXX

"I get the feeling that she over did it." Naruto said.

"No, you think?" Sasuke said as he walked up next to Naruto.

"Sasuke? I thought I heard that you were training with Kakashi, what are you doing here. I would have thought he would have made the two of you at least three hours late."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We would have if Mifune hadn't threatened Kakashi. Something about burning those porn books of his."

"Good to know." Naruto said.

"Yeah….but still, those girls that are after you are nuts. The arena floor is all burnt and twisted because of them!"

"Eh, I got no problem fighting on that, do you Uchiha?"

"No, I was just complaining." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Oh, ok then." Naruto chirped.

The Uchiha eyed his old teammate and said, "So you don't mind that fact that is you get with them, they could kill you any way they wanted."

"Nope, just keep them happy and they won't." Naruto replied.

"You're nuts."

"And you're an ass."

XXX

"Next match, Sasuke vs Sai." Misa announced, making the crowd go wild. Many in the audience were looking forward to this, mostly due to seeing the Uchiha in action. They also wondered if he was powerful like those girls.

Once in the arena, the two boys stared at one another. "Don't think that just because you are my teammate that I will go easy on you." Sasuke said.

"That was my line, dickless." Sai said with his fake smile. "But if that is the way you want to go, I will go all out on you. You forget that I was part of Root before being assigned to this team."

"Tch, whatever." Sasuke replied as Misa told them to start. "And yet you are a genin on our team."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Sai stated with his fake smile as he drew on a piece of paper. With a wave of his hand, small orb like blobs flew out and encircled the Uchiha.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked, completely confused until he got a look at the designs on the orbs. These things had the Sharingan on them!

"Ah, so you are not blind." Sai said. "You see, this ink is special. It is combined with the blood of your clan. Danzo made it for me and it has helped me greatly."

"That…is sick." Sasuke said, struggling to keep his anger in check. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Simple. Your clan was useful and through me, it is even more useful." Sai said, not bothering to understand Sasuke's emotional state. "Did you really think that someone would not found a use for your dead clan? I have and so has Lord Danzo."

"You're going to pay!" Sasuke roared as he performed a familiar set of hand seals. **"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"**

"Still so easily angered." Sai replied as he saw the fireball engulf a few of his Ink Eyes, but he had gotten what he wanted. So he just created a few more that continued to circle the Uchiha. "Let me show you what the new Uchiha power does with Ink. **Imitation Ink Style: Multi Great Fireball Jutsu!"**

The eyes surrounding the Uchiha began to spin faster before distancing themselves from him and the mutating into ink based fire balls that he could feel the heat off of. He was not even sure how this was possible, but he didn't have time to think because they were coming back into kill him! So he saved his skin with a quick substitution jutsu using a large broken rock to take the blast for him.

XXX

Sarutobi was glaring at the battlefield. More specifically, at Danzo's supposed son, Sai. This was not something even he expected, but it seemed that Danzo had truly lost his mind. However, if Sai was able to do something like this with blood and ink, what the hell was Danzo capable of?

"Sarutobi, you should really watch out for that rival of yours." Onoki said, put off by this odd display of power. "I would hate to see what Danzo has cooked up for you back in Konoha."

"I will. As soon as these exams are over, I will storm that old fool's base and kill him myself!" Sarutobi raged. "I should have known something horrible like this would happen when the bodies of the Uchiha never got to the morgue! I thought it was a technical error, but this is just stupid!"

"I agree." The Raikage, A, growled out. At one time, his father did want the Sharingan in his village, but after seeing how they were and how they fought, his old man put a stop to that idea. "That clan is cursed if Danzo can do that with their blood. Just kill the old fool and your problems will be done with."

"Let's hope you _can _kill him unlike your student, Orochimaru." The Kazekage replied.

"Yes, but let's see how the underdog in this fight will fair against someone with extensive knowledge of what to do with multiple copies of the Sharingan. I am interested in what the little Uchiha can do when faced with this." Mei replied with a smile.

"Indeed, what will he do?" Sarutobi asked himself.

XXX

Sasuke knew he was at a disadvantage. He did not know what Sai could do with those Ink Sharingans, other than the normal copying power but even that was warped!

"If you think that is all I have Sasuke, then you are mistaken." Sai replied. "With the power of the Sharingan in my Ink, I have all the power of those eyes of yours. For example…." With a hand sign, the world around Sasuke warped and the eyes were back, but they were not alone. Connected to the eyes were people, people that should be dead.

Activating his own Sharingan, he found that he could not break whatever illusion he was in. It was maddening! There were his mother, his father, and his brother. There were also two others he had never seen before. A younger Uchiha that looked a little bit like Naruto and a man with long hair covering one of his eyes.

"You call yourself an Uchiha? What a joke, you are weak." The long hair man said with vast disinterest. "You can't even break out of a simple illusion.

"I'll show you weak!" Sasuke roared. He would not be insult by someone he didn't even know! He rushed the long hair man, forgetting that this was an illusion.

"Hmph," The man said as he back handed the young Uchiha into the black hair Naruto look alike, who stabbed him in the back!

_What is this? This I an illusion that can hurt me?_ Sasuke thought in mild panic until he noticed something. Only part of this was an illusion. If he concentrated hard enough, he saw the color on the people fade to that of black and white, just like Sai's Ink. That meant that the rest was the illusion!

"Fine…I'll play your game." Sasuke replied, wincing a bit thanks to the wound on his back.

"Oh? And how will you do that?" The boy spoke.

"Like this!** Chidori Stream!"** Sasuke shouted as he slammed a lightening covered fist at the other young Uchiha, releasing a current of power that travelled to the others before they melted and the illusion fell, showing a slightly burnt Sai.

"I didn't think that Kakashi knew other lightning based jutsu." Sai said.

"He doesn't." Sasuke said, glad that he was out of that illusion. Any longer and he would have lost it, killing the Ink version of Itachi. "He helped me make my own jutsu."

"Good to know, but you still will not win." Sai replied as he release Ink Lions to engage the Uchiha.

Sasuke growled. He was hoping that he would have to use his other lighting based jutsu, but right now, that was all he had. Tapping a seal on his hand, an absurdly long blade, almost like a katana, appeared in his hand_. _Channeling his lightning chakra into it, he made it super sharp and it grew longer. He was glad that Kakashi taught him how to manipulate his element a few weeks after Naruto left.

"Bring it on!" Sasuke roared. The lions roared in kind as they all ganged up on him.

The result was a blood bath for the young Uchiha. Despite him being a so called elite, he was still nothing but a genin. And one 'trained' by Kakashi too. Still, he didn't do too badly. His lightning enhanced blade sliced through them with ease. The down side was him getting clawed up by the beasts until he and the ground were covered in blood and ink.

Sai fake smiled again and clapped. "Good for you, but I can make more." At that, Sasuke groaned, this was getting him nowhere! "Still, it gave me enough time for my next move."

"…Crap." Sasuke deadpanned.

"You see Sasuke, I know the secret to gain the next level of the Sharingan and I have already done the deed, something required for people like me."

"Yeah, I know you work for Root, Kakashi already said not to trust you that much. What did you have to do?"

"I killed my brother and best friend." Sai replied in a monotone. "And now, I shall unleash the Ink Mangekyo Sharingan!" All the ink covering the ground and Sasuke rose up and formed into a giant eye and the design of the new eye looked like an outline of a power button. "Although….i haven't figured out how to use most of the Sharingan's next level powers. So….just enjoy this."

That being said, Sai did the tiger hand sign and the eye shot out a wave an inky black fire, which Sasuke barely managed to dodge. _The hell!? He can really use that level and use an ink version of the Sun Goddess's power? And damn that felt real enough!_ Sasuke thought in panic while also wondering why the proctor or the Kages didn't stop the fight. They were probably betting on him to win. Whatever.

_Fine then, I guess I will have to use _that_ jutsu…although that will be it….damnit, and here I was hoping to fight Naruto next round._ Sasuke thought as he was already tired. Those lions did a number on his arching body.

With that, Sasuke sent out a spark of lighting around him, charging air as he bum rushed the eye, intent on take that out first so that he could get to Sai. However, the ink user wasn't going to make it easy on him. Because as soon as Sa8i saw this, Sai commanded his creation to let out more jets of inky black fire.

Sasuke dodged and weaved a best his could, slashing through some of them, only to light the blade a flame. "Argh! **Black Chidori Stream!" ** He screamed, using the black flames to his advantage, combing the two elements the best he could. The effect actually brought down the mass of ink, stunning Sai into immobility for the time, and Sasuke was already to dish out the final attack. The spark from earlier was back and the charged air around came to life, almost looking like the Lightning Guardian, Kirin. So chucking his still flaming blade at the stunned Sai, he roared out, "**Kirin: Roar with the Thunder!"**

The Uchiha stopped short a few yards away from Sai as the light miniature lightning guardian shot forward and let out a concussive roar. As the concussive air wave flew toward the Root member, the air was super charged as well, although it again combined with the remaining black fire on the blade and all Sai saw was darkness.

When the dust cleared, the audience saw Sai body stuck to the arena wall thanks to Sasuke's blade. The wave of air sped it up so that even if Sai had not been stunned, he still would not have had time to move.

Sai was dead. Pierce in the heart with Sasuke's blade.

Misa looked a little sad that a death happened in these exams already, but her father did tell to expect them. Looking toward the Uchiha, she found him face down on the ground, unconscious. It seemed his wounds and the final jutsu he use were too much for him and he passed out.

"Well, I guess this battle ends in a double knockout due to the fact that I can't determine who lost first. So no one wins this round."

There was a murmuring in the stand but there were no complaints. That was one battle no one expected to end like that.

XXX

Sarutobi sighed. "Danzo will not like this."

"What are you afraid of? Him coming at you sooner?" Onoki asked.

"I wanted a bit more time to prepare. Now I know that man will come at me. When that time comes, Konoha will become a battle field." The old Hokage replied, sadness in his eyes. "After all, since Naruto left, he has been waiting for a reason to take me down."

"It sounds like that boy really was his son." Mei said, her interest peaked.

"Young Sai may not have looked like his father because the boy took after his mother." Sarutobi replied. "He said the boy was an orphan, but I knew that he was Danzo's child. The man may have deaden the emotion of his soldiers, but he could not deaden his own emotions and eventually, he fell to them. A pale beauty that Danzo want in his ranks, but after a while, he could not bring himself to deaden the young woman's emotions and saved her. I fear that if he had not done that, he himself would have lost his own emotions."

"Sad." Raikage growled out, still not liking Danzo at all. So to him, he really didn't care.

"Indeed." The Kazekage muttered, think about his own wife.

XXX

In the competitor's box, Naruto looked on with a calculation look. Every battle so far was preety intense. The explosions and other attacks could have harmed the crowds, but the barrier helped protect them from any stray jutsu or kunai. Still he had a lot to live up to. His battle had to be epic and will him fighting Lee, it was a assured…even if it was just taijutsu. Taijutsu still had a lot of power behind it if used properly.

Naruto thought about how he would win as he watched Gaara and Akatsuchi's battle. In a sense, it was mostly a battle for control. To a degree, the two were able to control the earth in their own special way.

Gaara was a able to bend the sand to his will, making it do what he wanted, even form his Jinchuriki Form. Akatsuchi was different. He had to the power to mold the earth into his special jutsu, the Golem Technique.

Still, for all their control, Gaara remained on top as he broke the earth down into massive ton of sand, breaking the golems with easy and completely overwhelming Akatsuchi into giving up.

"For the final battle of the first round, will Naruto Uzumak and Rock Lee of Konoha please come down to the arena?" Misa announced.

"YOSH! Finally, our battle has come!" Lee shouted. "Come Naruto! Let us show the world our Power of Youth!"

"Yeah…sure Lee." Naruto said, sweat dropping a bit as the other competitors took a step back, wondering what Lee was on. Shaking his head, he took the stairs while Lee jumped right to the arena floor from the competitor's box.

"Good luck." Kurotsuchi said, kissing the blond. "And remember, just because Lee can only use Taijutsu, doesn't mean you have to do the same."

"Noted." Naruto replied.

Once in the arena, the two stared off at each other, wondering how this will go. Naruto wanted to see what Lee could really do when it came down to the wire. He knew Taijutsu had its uses, but Lee knew more about it than he did, mostly due to having Might Guy as a teacher.

Lee knew some of what Naruto could do, but that was it. He wanted to see more! Just knowing that Naruto was a great fighter made his blood pump. This was a perfect battle to show the world how good he was with Taijutsu.

Misa looked between the two and said, "Begin" Before hightailing it out of there. If the other battles were any indication, then this battle would be just as destructive. After all, one of the fighters was Naruto after all.

(Put on Superbeast, a good song for this kind of fight.)

With that, Lee entered his Goken Fist Stance as Naruto entered one that was unfamiliar to him. He had a feeling that Guy knew, but the man couldn't help him in a time like this. He would just have to adapt on his own. So, not giving Naruto time to attack, he struck first!

Lee rushed Naruto, throwing a powerful haymaker that Naruto managed to block before following up with a kick to the head. Naruto fell back to not get hit with that before he put his weight on his arms to thrust his foot into Lee's stomach.

The green spandex wearing ninja managed to grab hold of the foot before it could do damage to him but the result was jarring. Naruto had put in a lot of force with that, but even he knew that wasn't all there was. There was truly something else powering that attack. He heard that Naruto now had a metal arm, but he doubted that was it. Plus, the blond weighed too much.

"You're holding back, Naruto." Lee replied with a frown. "Show me what you can really do!"

"I could say the same to you Lee." Naruto said with a smirk as he put his hood over his head.

Lee just smiled as he disappeared in a burst of speed before appearing once again behind the blond, ready to strike. Lee brought his fight towards Naruto's head, only for it to pass right through.

"You look so surprised." Naruto said from right next to Lee, making the green clad ninja retaliate by throwing a punch, which once again passes right through Naruto. This time, Lee noticed the black smoke. "You said not to hold back, but you still are. So I am going make you by using some of my other skills. Real Genjutsu has its perks, but in a fight like this, it is rather boring."

"Argh!" Lee shouted as he sent a kick to Naruto's face, only for it to once again pass through the blond. "Fine! I shall take it to the next level!" Lee shouted as he eyed the stands, looking for his sensei, wondering if Guy would let him do this. Once he spotted the man, he notice Guy give him a slight nod before giving off the good guy pose, shining smile and all.

Lee nodded as leapt into the air. With quick speed, he undid his weights and threw them to the ground, shocking many when they created craters.

"Dafaq?!" Naruto muttered, wonder how much Lee had been really hold back. "Oh this should be fun!"

XXX

In the crowd, Guy was sitting with his him and many of the other Jonin sensei and their own teams. Guy himself had a thousand giga watt smile on his face. He was getting to see Lee show his real power.

His joy was not shared by the others. Kakashi turned his head to his so called rival and sighed, "Don't you think that is a bit much Guy?"

"Nope! My student shines with the Power of Youth. This just shows it!" Guy cheered before his face grew serious. "Besides, Lee hasn't unleash his true potential yet."

"What do you mean sensei?" Tenten asked.

"Just a little something I have been working on with him." Guy replied before turning to Neji. "Watch carefully Neji, Lee will show a power that he can use to defeat even you on your best day. However, I forbid him from doing so in a mere spar and against a fellow leaf ninja."

Neji nodded and he leaned forward to look. His his….defeat by Hinata and her temporary teammates, he had started to reevaluate a lot of things in his life, especially after Hiashi came to him and told him the true about his father. _How far have you gotten Lee?_

However, Kakashi still eyed his friend. Something about his statement didn't sit well with him. _He would teach that kid the Gates, would he?_

XXX

Lee disappeared and then reappeared, slamming right into Naruto's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Lee noticed that there was still a lot of resistance to his punch, he just could not figure out what.

Naruto doubled over in pain for a second too long, which was all Lee needed as he kicked the blond in the face, sending him up in the air. The blond recovered quickly and blocked the upward jab at him and axe kicked Lee out of his way. _Damn, those weights were for his speed. He already had some strength, but losing those weights doubled both for him. I am just lucky I am who I am._

With that, Naruto punched the ground, "**Earth Style: Stone Fist Manipulation!"** The earth rose up and twisted around his hands, encasing them in rock. Learn this and a few other Earth based jutsu had been a real pain in the ass since this was not his element, Wind was. It was like polar opposites, but thanks to an absurd amount of clones, he had gotten it down. Even if the power was halved.

The blond rushed at Lee, returning the punch in the gut and sending the green glad ninja back a few feet. Lee looked back at Naruto in the eyes, both noticing a glint in the other's eye before they both disappeared in a burst of speed.

They appeared again, trading punches before Lee knocked the blond to the ground. Naruto let off a smirk and he dug his hand into the fire twist earth. What came next shocked the Taijutsu user. A column of earth shot out of the ground, punting him back a few yards.

At this, Lee's face grew with excitement as he rushed back in. He used his superior speed to appear all over Naruto to try and get in a good strike. However, Naruto kept up with him. Using his stone fists to grab or black a few strikes while doing handstands and making it look like he was free style break dancing as he kept plunging his fists into the ground to bring out columns of earth that strike out or curve to block Lee's strikes.

To Lee, it was an intense experience that he was glad to have endured. It pushed him past his current limits to dodge and weave from the earth while send his punches and kicks to his opponent. Still, Lee again come out on top as he finally found an opening and took it. He got underneath the blond and kicked him high into the air. Lee disappeared before reappearing in the air with Naruto, just below him.

"This is the end my friend! **First Gate: Gate of Opening, Open! Primary Lotus!"** The bandages around Lee's arms came loose as they wrapped around the blond, who looked a little panicked at this point, before they spun head first into the ground, creating a large dust cloud.

XXX

"What the hell Guy, you taught him the Gates?!" Kakashi shouted, shocked that Guy do something so reckless.

"What Gates?" Sakura asked, making the other genin wonder about that to as their attention fell on Kakashi and Guy.

"The Gates of the inner body." Kakashi started. "They let the user go to new heights with each gate. One can even fight at Kage Level if they open the eighth, but they die afterwards."

"Damn…that sucks." Kiba grumbled, thinking it was a good way to power, but if he was dead afterwards, forget that!

"Hmm, I thought I read something about that once." Sakura replied, almost talking to herself.

Ignoring the kids for now, Kakashi rounded on Guy. "How many Gates did you teach him to open?"

Guy smiled. "You'll see. I have a feel that Naruto will push him to open them. I will say that before we entered the Chunin Exams, he was at five."

"Was? Guy, you are nuts." Kakashi stated.

XXX

When the dust cleared, Naruto's body lay twisted at an odd angle. Lee cringed a bit before the body went up in smoke. "A clone jutsu? When!?" He asked aloud.

"When you kicked me in the air, I managed to make a seal less clone and switch with it." Naruto replied and as he reappeared next to Lee, his hood still up. "When you said next level, you meant it, but it is still not enough to beat me and my Darkness Style."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

The answer was Naruto removing the hood, showing Lee and the crowd his skeleton form. "Heh, what do you think?"

Lee blinked, then blinked again. "Aren't skeletons supposed to be white?"

"Heh, let's just say that, my arm needed some good roots." Naruto chuckled. "Oh and this is a special type of metal on my bones that let me do some awesome things, for example…" He said as he was enshrouded in wind chakra before he vanished from sight.

Lee looked around frantically, before he heard the cry of, "**Falcon….Punch!" **Naruto appeared behind Lee and delivered a concussive falcon shaped punch that sent Lee careening into a wall, leaving a large imprint of the boy's body.

XXX

"Ah HAHAHA!" A, the Raikage, roared in laughter. "The match so far has been great, but that was awesome. Using Wind Chakra in taijutsu like that is genius!"

"Hmm, makes me wonder why no one has ever done it before." The Kazekage wondered. If he could create a fighting style like that in his village, he could get some better leverage in the shinobi world and get more clients.

_You have grown well Naruto, but that Darkness Style is creepy._ Sarutobi thought with a smile as he watched the two fight.

"Regretting letting him go yet?" Onoki asked with a big smile.

"Everyday."

XXX

"Damn that had to hurt." Temari said, wincing a bit.

Yeah, but I doubt this is over yet." Kurotsuchi replied, seeing that Lee was breaking himself out of the wall.

"He doesn't quit!" Suzumebachi almost yelled in shock.

XXX

Lee indeed broke himself out of the wall and sent Naruto a smile. "Your power of youth knows no bounds! Let me show where mine can travel! **Gate of Rest, OPEN! Gate of Life, OPEN!" ** At that, Lee begun to change. His skin grew red, his eyes whited out, and chakra burst all around him, giving the illusion that wind was blow around him. "**Gate of Pain, OPEN!" **The veins on Lee's skin looked to be pulsing against it, looking ready to burst and he looked like he was ina small bit of pain. "Argh! **GATE OF CLOSING, OPEN!" **With that, the area grew thick with the potent chakra as everyone could feel it now.

Lee burst forward from his spot as he charged once again at the blond. Naruto himself channel more darkness as his form became a little smoky, while also channeling a good amount of wind chakra. He braced himself when Lee struck head on, jarring them both. Naruto for the force of the hit and Lee because of the pain of hitting the hard metal that was now on Naruto.

And with that, another deadly dance ensued. The two weaved and dodged as they tried to strike one another. Naruto used his darkness and wind to skillfully weave around Lee, making it look like everywhere he went was an illusion. Lee, however, was far faster and he got in a few good jarring strikes. He had been at this far longer, training with Guy whenever he had a chance. Naruto was winging it the best he could with an on the fly tactic.

It was good, but Lee saw through it as he once again brought Naruto into the air once more. The green clad shinobi brought a multitude of hits to the bony Uzumaki. Landing a hit before jumping off to strike at a different place and jumping off the very air itself to gain speed at hit Naruto, sending the two all over the place in the air.

Subconsciously, Lee felt that he was being guided along somehow. Like the air he was jumping off was control where he would go, but he had no clue how that worked. Finally, he felt that he didn't care and knocked Naruto to the ground.

Chuckling, Naruto wobbly got back up. "Man Lee, you sure know how to give a good smack down, but thanks to this form, I am given added protection. Still, I felt that and I feel that I need to end this…quickly. "He said as he stretched a bit, working out the kinks. He loved this form, but it was draining thanks to the long usage.

He disappeared and the appeared in front of Lee before upper cutting him back into the air. "**Black Wind Web!"** As soon as Lee started to descend, he felt himself stuck.

"What is this?!" Lee asked, shocked to find himself in an actual web of sorts.

"The Black Wind Web. As you hit me, I release a small current of wind that guided up as he travelled. You did the rest for me as I merely added darkness into the mix of air streams. You are caught in a multi-crossing air stream that will keep you in one place until I release you. No hold still while I end this."

Lee's eyes widened when Naruto took a stance as fire of all things erupted all around him. Lee didn't know it, but Naruto's blazing fire from meant that he was using the Kyuubi's chakra for the final blow. However, he still had some juice left….even if it was going to hurt him more. "**Gate of Joy, OPEN!"** The result was the spider web of wind shredding and then twisting into black whirlwinds due to the sheer power wafting off of him. **"Morning Peacock!"**

"Moring wha-" Naruto asked but was cut off as Lee brought his fist down on Naruto's flaming head, distracting him with the force of the hit. The effect to that made his body a little heavy to crack the ground. Lee then followed up and a kick that sent the blond back into the air. The green clan ninja followed him in the air as he delivered punch after punch to the blond. The speed of the punches were so fast that they were set ablaze by sheer speed and friction. That created a peacock-like fan of flaming chakra around Naruto. When he was done, Naruto crashed back down to the earth, covered in more fire.

XXX

"Damn! The kid knows how to do something like that at his age?" A said in disbelief. "The hell are your men teaching those kids!? That kid is too young for that shit. I am surprised that kid hasn't torn himself apart yet!"

Sarutobi watched as Naruto fell to the ground in mild irritation. "I was not aware that Guy went that far in Lee's training. I should have known though."

XXX

"Guy, this is going too far!" Kakashi said, losing his temper.

Guy nodded. He honestly didn't his student would go this far to prove himself. "Yes, it is over kill, but it seems they both went overboard. You can feel it too, right? That flaming aura around Naruto is _that _chakra. However, I am surprised that it is not giving off the usual negative emotions."

Kakashi snapped his head back to the fight, wondering the same thing while their students were wondering what they were talking about in the first place while also wondering how Naruto was doing. That last attack was devastating.

XXX

Naruto in fact was not fine. His flaming bone form was flickering, threating to shut itself off. _Goddamnit…I thought I'd be nice and use very few ninjutsu in this battle, sticking to jutsu that work well with my taijutsu, but all that has really accomplished is getting my ass handed to me this whole fight. Kurama, how much of your chakra can I handle?_

The giant fox stirred with his cage as he absorbed the fight so far. The speed of the punches is so fast that they are set ablaze by sheer speed and friction. This creates a peacock-like fan of flaming chakra around the opponent.** "One Tail. With all the damage done to your body, whether it be the bone form or your normal human form, that will only last for a small time. Why, do you have a plan?"**

_Yeah, a jutsu that should finish this._ The response to this was the flames coming back in full force. The cloak Naruto wore was ripped and shredded. All in all in bad shape and through the hole, the flames roared through. Ripping it off for now, he showed the world the his black clothes underneath as the flames roaring all around him almost looked solid. "Enough, this battle is over!"

"Your Flames of Youth bright as brightly as ever Naruto!" Lee cheered but winced. Maintaining these gates were murder on the body. "Yes, let's end this. "**Gate of Shock, OPEN!" ** Again, the result was another explosion of power as the sweat covering Lee rapidly evaporated, creating an aura of blue all around Lee and his muscles bulged and felt like they were ripping themselves apart and his chakra violently swirled around him a maelstrom of power.

XXX

"Guy! Please tell me that was last gate he can open!" Kakashi replied in panic.

"Yes, it is." Guy replied grimly, a little put off that Lee pushed himself this far in the Chunin Exams. He only taught Lee those thing so that he had power on his side if he ever fought a high level ninja on the field and he was not there. "Please be careful Lee."

"DAMN! This fight is intense!" Kiba roared as he was at the edge of his seat.

"I know the feeling!" Ino beamed as she stared at the two maelstroms of power getting ready for the final strike. By this point, everyone in the stands were at the edges of their seats, cheering like mad people. The subconscious part of her wished that she were nicer to the blond back in the academy.

Sakura just looked at the scene with a sad smile.

XXX

Sasuke, by now awake, leaned against the railing of the comepetitor's box, watching the fight intensely. _So this is how far you've come…way to go dobe."_

"Yeah! Kick some ass! Now is the time to stop holding back!" Kurotsuchi roared with a big smile on her face.

"What kind of power houses are they?!" Temari shouted in shock.

XXX

"YEAH! Now this is a fight." A roared.

"My, this is quite the battle. Near kage level I would assume." Mei stated with a gleam in her eyes.

"Oh yeah! Show them what you are made of kid." Onoki replied with a proud smile.

XXX

Lee took no time in waiting for his opponent to attack as he brought a palm outward before using his other hand to smack it, creating a great amount of pressure from his surrounding chakra. Forming the tiger sign, he thought, _Forgive me Guy-sensei, I know this is over kill and you told me never to use it unless I truly have to…but I must show them my power in Taijutsu! _**"DAYTIME TIGER!" **Lee screamed as he thrust forward, sending the mass of air pressure right at his opponent.

Naruto grit his teeth as he only had one shot at this. He was not good with his jutsu due to his shoddy control over Earth Style jutsu. However, thanks to his Darkness Style, he is able to pull off out counterpart. He just need more time to master that other style. Quickly performing a few handseals and adding all the chakra he could, his and Kurama's, he shouted, **"Black Dust Style: Izanami's Hand!"**

While more creative that Onoki was with the style, Naruto was able to use his own hand as a template as the usual dust style mechanics formed while adding his darkness to shape it to his will. Thrusting his own palm forward, He sent the hand towards Lee's attack. The two powerhouse moves meeting in the middle.

For a moment, the two attacks fought for dominance as the pressurized air tiger fought to get past the hand, but when the hand closed around the tiger, the effects where instant. The dust qualities destabilized the tiger, making it is implode in on itself, which gave the hand momentum to streak towards Lee, slamming him down to the group.

The hand also destabilized Lee's chakra, making the gates rapidly close themselves and leaving Lee with all the pain.

Lee, despite all the nerve racking pain he was in, managed to hobble his way to his knees and look at Naruto, who was on his own knees, panting from exhaustion and back in his normal human form. The two locked eyes before Lee asked, "How are you able to still fight? What is driving you?"

Naruto smiled weakly. "The same thing that is driving you. Our hearts. The heart of the warrior beats within up, letting us push us to our limits and beyond." He paused as he thought about it. "In our hearts, we both have something to prove and that also makes us strong. I can tell that we are the same, geniuses of hard work, people who have to work get where they want."

Lee smiled sadly. That was exactly was he was. During this fight, he had to pull out all the stops from all that he knew from his hard work. Looking at the stands, he could tell that he had shown the world his powers in taijutsu. He had won in his own way, but there was still room for improvement and when this battle was over, he would work his way to the top. "Yes, I understand now. One more."

"One more what?" Naruto asked.

"One more strike to decide this battle." Lee declared. "Let's show the world how to end a fight!"

"Heh, fine by me Lee." Naruto said as they both stood up, both in varying amounts of pain. Naruto knew he was almost out of chakra and felt this final strike was worth it.

With the roar of the crowds, the two shot off like rocket aimed at each other as they threw back their arms in preparation for the final blow. When they were close enough, they threw their punches, but Lee flinched in pain, the simple acts he was performing where too much after opening seven of the eight gates. This left him wide open for Naruto's final punch.

"THIS IS THE POWER FROM MY HEART!" Naruto shouted as he brought his fist down on Lee's face. Lee tried to resist, he really did, but all the pain from the day's events was too much and he blacked out, good thing too. "ARGH!" Naruto yelled as he brought Lee down to the ground. The force of the punch was so much that once Lee hit the ground, the whole arena fire scared floor exploded upwards, putting Lee in a massive crater.

Misa popped her head out of one of the stadium doors, looking in shock at all the devastation before running over to the two combatants to see that Lee was down in a crater, barely conscious with an odd smile on his face while Naruto was barely on his feet a few feet away. She smiled and said, "THE WINNER IS NARUTO!"

And the crowd went wild.

XXXX

**19 fucking pages, hell yeah!**

**Nice stopping point, don't you all think? Man that took so long to write! I was unsure how to do some of these battles like Sasuke and Sai's. So I just went my own way since I really didn't know how Sai fought. So I thought what the hell, if Danzo can use Mokuton DNA and Sharingan Eyes, then Sai can use the Uchiha Blood in his Ink to pull what wrote off. NO FLAMES!**

**As for Naruto and Lee's battle, I figure Lee could learn the other two gates for the hell of it. Guy stopped teaching him in the anime only because he got caught….i think. So I took it further. The final punch was basically Ninja Storm 3's final bout with Naruto and Obito. It was badass so I use it.**

**So, quick question. So should I have these Exams run for two days so that the Samurai can fix the arena and give the fighters a chance to rest or keep on going? Also, could Sasuke have been close friends with Sai since Naruto left so that he could gain his Mangekyo? He will need it for when Pain comes.**

**Two other things, one tell me how badly i messed up on my grammar because i am tired and don't feel like going through it all right now and two, i am wondering if i need to have Misa in this harem. I really just created her for the purpose of having an OC. I honestly don't see Mifune letting her stay with Naruto in Iwa. Up to you all.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	18. A Lovely Intermission

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 18**

**Well, I want to get this out sooner, but the usual shit happened…plus I wasn't sure how this intermission chapter was going to play out. So this might be a little short. Anyway, expect some lemons that you all have been craving for…..**

**XXX**

Mifune, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire first round of the Finals, sighed and as he stood up. Glaring at the state of the arena, he said, "And that concludes the first round of the Finals. Unfortunately, we will need to take the rest of the day off so that we can repair the arena. We shall finish this tomorrow."

There was a murmur in the crowd but they all seemed to get it as they all got up a left for today. However, a few of the contestants groaned, but still left. However, that gave them time to rest and plan for their next or in Suzumebachi's case, first, battle.

Suzumebachi was the only one not to do a full scale fight like the others had today as she got a bye. However, no matter how she planned it in her head, there was no way in hell that she was going to be the other four constants. She barely knew Naruto's full strength, but the mere fact that he was next in line for the Tsuchikage's hat proved to her that she was no match for him, especially after today's fight. She had no way of countering any of that. Her precious bees were not meant for that kind of battle.

The same could be said for Fu and Gaara. They were like Naruto, Roshi, and Han. Jinchuriki. All powerful ninja that she was not skilled enough to take down She hoped that she didn't have to fight them.

Finally was Kurotsuchi. Suzumebachi once thought she was on par with her, but no anymore. With Lava Style and Explosion Style on her side, things got hairy in a hurry. Suzumebachi was not sure how she would fare fighting against her.

She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew that if she fought any of them, that they would not hold back and she could get seriously hurt.

Gaara didn't really care who he fought in the next round, he just hoped it was a good fight. He didn't fight to prove his existence anymore; Naruto had knocked that out of him. He fought to prove that he was strong through the bonds that he made with Naruto and his family. Plus, it was sometimes fun….not that he would ever admit that.

Kurotsuchi and Fu in were in the same boat. They were both hoping for a good fight and kind of hoping to fight each other. They were going to fight for Naruto again, but the prospect of destroying the arena with their own brand of explosions was enticing. It was going to be fun!

Naruto on the other hand was a bit tired and to be honest, didn't care who he had to fight. All he wanted was some food, a good night's rest, and then in the morning, he would deal with whoever he had to fight. Hell, he didn't usually plan his fights beforehand. He just fought and thought up a 'plan' mid battle.

XXX

"That was an awesome battle Naruto!" Kurotsuchi cheered as her and the other Iwa Ninja ate at Misa's dining room table. She had cook a great meal for them while her father was out helping the other samurai fix the absurdly battle scared arena.

"Thank." Naruto replied with a smile. "Yours was awesome too with that huge explosion. I get the feeling that is you get to fight Fu, this will end with a bang!"

"Heh, I bet." Kurotsuchi replied with a goofy smile. It seemed that she had taken a great interest with his Explosion Style, thankfully it wasn't to the point of Deidara's obsession with the Style. "Still, I think I got it in the bag. She may be a Jinchuriki like you, but i can still kick her ass!"

"You still need to be cautious. "Haku replied as he ate. "Her style revolves around bugs, pheromones, and yes, explosions. You will be need to plan it out accordingly. Personally, I am unsure how I would do against her if I had passed."

"Oh, you just got a back draw on that battle Haku." Guren replied, trying to cheer up her boyfriend.

"Oh well, there is always next time for me." Haku replied, shaking it off. He honestly don't know how far he would even get in the Chunin Exams. He considered himself lucky that he had gotten that far.

Naruto smiled at this best friend. Haku was very humble and he used that to keep the blond in line sometimes. It was needed in some aspects. Smiling he nodded to Haku and then said, "Man, after a long day like this, any kind of food is good, but man Misa, you really know how to cook!" Everyone at the table agreed whole heartedly. Even Akatsuchi, who tried to compliment her with his mouth full.

"That means a lot, thank you." Misa replied pleasantly. "I learned through trail and error. I used to be horrible at it."

"How bad are we talking here?" Suzumebachi asked.

"I think I almost gave my dad a heart attack the first time he even saw what I made and when he tried it just to be nice, he passed out."

"What was the occasion?" Naruto asked?

"Valentine's Day. I decided to would try to cook him something instead of buying something from the store." Misa replied.

"It was the thought that counted." Naruto replied.

"I know, I just wish I was better back then." Misa replied solemnly.

Well, enough about the past!" Kurotsuchi said after a moment. She saw the sad look on the white haired girl and didn't like it, so she was going to change the subject. "So Mr. Future Tsuchikage, are you ready for me to beat you ass in tomorrow?"

"You can try." Naruto smiled with his eye closed. "However, you saw what Lee could do. You are going to have to try a lot harder than him."

"Oh I will!" Kurotsuchi a sing song voice.

"I must say though that you did take a lot of damage in that fight with Lee." Haku replied. "Your new skeletal structure is pretty impressive."

Naruto winced as he said, "Yeah, but I still felt all that pain somewhat. He jarred me pretty hard. I still feel sore from it."

Misa smiled. "If you want, I could give you a massage later on."

"That might help, thanks Misa!" Naruto cheered. Kurotsuchi eyed the white haired girl for a moment before smirking to herself.

XXX

Naruto laid back on his and Kurotsuchi's bed once more with a smile. Despite the pain, he had a blast fighting Lee. They were alike in many ways. They were both Geniuses of Hard Work…as Lee had put it when he visited in a hospital afterwards.

_Flashback!_

"Yosh! That battle was amazing Naruto!" Lee said from his position on the bed. Due to the pain his entire body was it, he could not move for fear of a potentially harsh flare up. He was lucky Tsunade had decided to come to the exams or he would have been in worse condition. However, that didn't stop him from talking loudly.

"I agree Lee, but I didn't hurt you too bad did I?" Naruto asked, a bit concerned that he hurt a friend.

Lee shook his head in a negative. "No Naruto, my condition is a result of my own fault, I did open the gates after all. All I wanted to do was prove to the world that through hard work, I can be great!" Lee then smiled once more at Naruto. "You helped me prove that today. I heard that you were once like me in the academy, the Dead Last. So our battle proved to the world that people like us, people who get their power from hard work can be great! We are Geniuses of Hard Work!"

"And we are going to keep on improving as we grow older." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Exactly! Next time we fight, it will be that much harder to beat me." Lee declared.

"I am looking forward to it Lee." Naruto replied as he left the room to left Lee rest.

_Flashback End!_

Yeah, hard work. That and the over use of so many clones is how he got so strong. And he was only going to get stronger until he was strong enough that he had no problem taking down those who went after his friends that was for sure.

"Something on your mind again?" Kurotsuchi asked as she came in.

"Just thoughts on how to get stronger." Naruto replied, not even looking her way at the moment.

"Oh? I bet you can do that another day." Kurotsuchi's voice said as he finally looked at her and blushes seeing that see through nightgown on her again. Licking her lips she continued. "As I can think of better things to do at the moment. I want to have more…fun."

Naruto gave off a lopsided smirk. "All you have to do is ask."

(**This my readers is the lemon….who complained about not having one last time. Also, I was listen to Candy by****Aggro Santos Feat. Kimberly Wyatt….to help I guess.****)**

Kurotsuchi smirked as he climbed on top of him and smashed her lips to his. The blond's hand wandered down from her neck to her beasts and then down on her ass as he massaged it. As Kurotsuchi broke the kiss to moan, Naruto trailed his kisses to her neck.

Through labored breaths, Kurotsuchi said, "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"Oh, your massage girl is here, but why don't we let her join us, hmm?" The two lovers turned their heads to the door to see a madly blushing white haired girl standing at the door. "What do you say, Misa?"

Um….um…." The girl replied, not getting a coherent sentence out.

"I think we broke her." Naruto said nervously.

Kurotsuchi chuckled as she got off the blond and walked over to the girl before whispering in her ear. "Come on, what do you say?"

"A-are you sure? You and him where about to go at it." Misa replied nervously.

Kurotsuchi smirked. "You wanted to be with him didn't you? Think of this as you entrance into our little harem."

Misa looked at the Iwa Ninja in the eyes, looking for any deceit and found none. "OK." She said. Kurotsuchi didn't answer verbally; she just smirked before kissing the girl full on the lips. The white haired girl was completely caught off guard for a moment as confusion set in. Then the realization that if she was going to be in their harem, things like this would probably be the norm. Thinking back, she didn't have a problem when Guren had kissed her to tease Naruto before.

So shrugging, she let her hands wander down to Kurotsuchi's ass and massaged them like Naruto had done while the ninja started to massage her breasts, erecting a moan from both of them as they continued to make out.

Finally the broke apart, a line of saliva the only thing connecting them as they turned their attention to Naruto who was blushing a bit at the act. The girls smiled before walking towards him. Misa smiled as she got behind his now sitting form and started to massage his shoulders while kissing him on the lip occasionally.

Kurotsuchi crouched down and took off Naruto's boxer shorts that he wore when he slept to reveal his 9 inch dick, her eyes darkening with lust as she licked her lips and then the tip. Looking up at him, she smirked before diving to her own lust as she took it into her mouth. She again smirked to herself as Naruto grunted and hold her head as she bobbed along to his eventual orgasm.

Misa grew bold as had Naruto lay on his back and took off her own nightgown and panties to let him lick her. She gasped in shock as the feeling of his doing so came full force and she loved it. The effect of him lying on his back also made Kurotsuchi take the dick in full, deep throating it. That also made her hornier as she started to finger herself.

Soon the three screamed in pleasure as they each came. Kurotsuchi hungrily lapped up all of his cum before she licked off her own juices from her hand in front of the blond, keeping his hard and turned on at the act. By now, Misa's eyes had taken the darkening of lust as she eyed Naruto hungrily. Kurotsuchi smirked at seeing this.

The ninja brought Misa down with her to Naruto's member and the girl hungrily took it into her own mouth. The ninja and samurai both took turns sucking and licking it as they lost themselves in lust, something licking it at the same time.

Soon, they started using their large B to small C cup breasts to tit fuck it, but that backfired as even though Naruto mobility was hampered, he started pumping himself, enjoying the feeling of his dick smashed between their breasts. Soon, he came all over their faces and breasts.

The girls smirked sexily as they lapped it all up again, making him keep his hard on. Kurotsuchi then pushed Misa onto the bed on her back. She then got on top of the white haired girl and began making out again. Misa was so engrossed in it that she never noticed him entering her until it was too late. She winced as this was her first time, but with Kurotsuchi's help, the pain was lessened.

Nodding her consent, Naruto became to pump into the white haired girl's pussy. He also switched periodically with Kurotsuchi as he made love to them. Sometimes he would just pumped between them, caressing both of their pussies, making them love every minute of it. When the time came for him to cum again, he came between them, coving them once again in his cum. However, this time, they started licking each other, lapping away his cum in a very erotic scene.

Having enough of that, Naruto lifted Misa up and began to fuck her standing up, making he shout in pleasure and her breast rubbed themselves against Naruto's well-toned chest. After a few minutes of this, she was near her limit and said, "Oh! I'm about to cum!"

"Me too." Naruto grunted, "but don't worry, I did a jutsu that makes sure I won't get you pregnant yet."

"I don't care, just cum inside me!" Misa shouted as her eyes rolled back and they both came, with her shouting again. Once done, Naruto let her fall on the side of the bed to rest, her chest heaving up and down as she regained her breath, her face set in a perverted look, a testament to how much she enjoyed it.

"Please tell me you have some more energy." Kurotsuchi asked as she came up behind him and kissed him while stroking his dick. He smirked in the kiss as he brought a finger back to mess with her pussy.

"After that meal, I have a lot more energy." Naruto replied as Kurotsuchi climbed on the other side of the bed, her ass hanging in the air. This was her favorite position as she could get all of him in her and feel the max pleasure. Naruto then buried himself all the way into her and rubbed her ass as she moaned in pleasure.

"Oh yes! I-it's hitting the back already!" Kurotsuchi screamed. "Fuck me! Fuck me hard!"

"As you wish, my Rock Princess." Naruto replied as he began to pump in and out of her, erecting moan after moan from her as he hit the back every time. Sometimes he would let himself enter her womb, making her cry out even louder.

Through her haze, Misa looked at the two lovers and smiled. Naruto really knew what he was doing it seemed and she could not wait for that position as one look at Kurotsuchi's face told her all she need to know. It was amazing. Period. Kurotsuchi's tongue was hangout, making her look like she was panting like a dog and her eyes have a vacant but lust fill look in them.

Misa wanted that!

That her brain started working again and perverted thoughts came to light as she smirked sexily as Kurotsuchi's orgasmic scream rang out through the room as they both came again, this time straight into her womb.

As they were catching their breaths once more, Misa spoke. "I have an idea."

"And what would that be?" Naruto asked between breathes.

"Shadow Clones." Misa replied, her eyes darkening more with lust.

Upon hearing that, Kurotsuchi's lust fill us widened and a pervert smile crept on her lips as she licked them. "Oooooh yes." She would enjoy that so much!

Naruto smiled as he created 3 more of himself as he went to Misa begin again. Their night was not even over yet and while Naruto should be resting, this was more fun!

So until tomorrow came, he would have his fun with his girls.

XXXXX

**And I am stopping here, more sex later on….especially when Fu and Temari enter the fray. Heh. However, I feel that I under did that sex scene. Tell me what you all think and what I could Improve upon with them. I also didn't have time to check my grammar because i was in a hurry. I had to work.  
**

**Anyway, next chapter will deal with the next fights. They include: Naruto, Kurotsuchi, Suzumebachi, Fu, and Gaara!**

**Review! **


	19. The End of the Chunin Exams

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 19**

**Ugh….sorry for the long update but I haven't been getting much sleep. Why? Well first was the damnable cricket outside my window that would NOT stop chirping for hours on end and it seemed like it would just keep on getting louder at some points. AND then the Thermostat broke so when it get hot outside, it gets hotter inside! No, we can't fix it because it will cost 700 bucks and my uncle grew up with no cold air, so he is fine with that shit….the rest of us…not so much. I hate summer.**

**XXX**

The general of the Samurai stood stock still as he observed the arena. Everything was as it should be. The ground was flat, the occasional tree intact, and all five contestants were standing a straight line for the crowds to see.

Everything was as it should be.

On the outside anyway. Mifune was mad. He spent all night fixing his damn place with his men and when he comes home, he finds that his daughter is having a threesome with the two Iwa ninja. Now, he knew about their relationship and he approved of it.

It was just…he was not ready to let her go damnit! Manly tears rolled down his face as he thought it was way too early to let his baby girl go! It was just not fair! He wanted more time!

"Is something the matter Lord Mifune?" Mei, the Mizukage asked from the side, noticing the tears.

"It is just not fair." He whispered, catching the attention of the other kage. "Kid grow up to fast nowadays, it sucks!"

Sarutobi blinked rapidly at watching this normally stoic man cry and complain. It must have been monumental to cause this. Plus….who knew the man had a soft spot for kids. "My I ask what happened."

Mifune nodded. They had a few more minutes before he had to announce the start of the exam final rounds. "She fell in love with your student, Tsuchikage, even before the exams. I helped the boy out with his arm after Itachi Uchiha cut it off." At this, Sarutobi's eyes widen, but he would ask about it later.

"So, during his stay, she comforted him and gave him some advice since she underwent the same procedure to save her own life. That is when she cemented herself in his life." The man said solemnly. "I know about your little plan Tsuchikage and while I can get behind it, I am still pissed that my child has grown up so fast!"

"What happened?" Onoki asked, fearing the answer.

Mifune turned to them fully and they notices his tear stained face. The emotions on it running from pride to a child he fathered growing up, sadly to see that they grew up way to fast or in some cases, at all, and finally fatherly rage. That made Mei widen her eyes in excitement.

"I found her in a threesome with your student and your granddaughter." Mifune cried.

Sarutobi gaining a gawking look on his face as the perverted old man tried to picture the event in his mind, gaining a nosebleed and a goofy smile. Hey, he training Jiriaya when he was younger, some of that Super Perverseness had to rub off on someone. Plus, he had all of Jiriaya books and he tried to join his student in his research when they were younger. So yes, The Hokage of Konoha was a major pervert.

A, the Raikage gave a good impression of a fish before he roared in uncontrollable laughter.

Mei also gaining a blush on her face, wondering how good the young blond son of the late Fourth Hokage was.

The Kazekage blinked owlishly before shaking his head and chuckling to himself, but inside, he was feeling the same fatherly rage due to the fact that Temari had feelings for Naruto as well. And once their alliance with Iwa was complete, she would live with him.

The Tsuchikage was just gawking at the fact that Naruto finally got the balls to be with his granddaughter and then have sex with her. Then came the fatherly and grandfatherly feelings that most fathers had. He knew his son in law, Kitsuchi, was not going to be happy.

Still, Mifune was right!

So the two old men embraced in a manly hug, the Kazekage bringing a rage induced fist next to his face as tears ran down his face as well, and the three of them shouted out, "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

This just made A roar even louder in laughter as he pounded his chair, almost losing his breath while Sarutobi chuckled along with Mei, but the red head was rolling her eyes as well.

None of them bothered to question either the Samurai General or the Tsuchikage on what Mifune meant about Onoki's plan.

XXX

The crowds were wondering what the hell was going up in the Leader Box to make them shout and laugh like that. However, Naruto hung his head a bit as he had a feeling he knew what was going on up there.

They were planning his assassination…or at least someone was.

"Do I even want to know what is so funny up there that is making Naruto shake like a leaf?" Suzumebachi asked.

Kurotsuchi gained a pervert smile and said, "Depends…can you handle the topic of sex?"

"Yeah….why?" Suzumebachi asked before she put together a few things. Haku's tiredness as he glared at Naruto all morning while Guren giggled every few minutes, Kurotsuchi AND Misa's limping in the morning until Tsunade healed them with a smirk, and various other little things including a rage fueled Mifine. "No way!"

"Way," Kurotsuchi replied.

Suzumebachi gained her own perverse look and asked, "So, how was it?"

"Mind blowing."

"Oh? Now I really need to step up my game." Fu replied with a pervert grin of her own.

Gaara just stood there stoically for a moment before he sighed and patted Naruto on the back. "Good with that my friend."

"Gee…thanks." Naruto replied, a little annoyed.

XXX

After the Kages and the Samurai General calmed down, Mifune got a hold of himself and announced the beginning of the finals. "Welcome back everyone!" He shouted, inciting the crowd with cheers. "Now we shall begin with the first round for today, but I must say this before we begin. It seems that after watching everyone battle, Suzumebachi has decided to forgo her position, saying that she does not have the power to take any of them on."

XXX

A murmur went through the crowds, most in understanding while others, not so much. "OH COME ON!" Guren shouted before sighing. Truth be told, she was the strongest on her team with Akatsuchi a close second. Guren knew that Suzumebachi was no that strong, but she made up for it with her traps and her brain. While not on par with a Nara, it was still impressive.

"Really? You're pulling out?" Kurotsuchi asked, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, I am lucky I got this far. I thought all this through last night. While I am not as smart as a freaking Nara, I thought all about each battle I would have with any one of you and I lost horribly to you all."

"I see." Kurotsuchi replied, finally getting it.

XXX

"So with that, I have decided to do something different, the final contestants shall…" Mifune paused for a moment, a slight smirk on his lips as he saw that he had everyone on the edge of their seats. "fight in a free for all. All four with fight each other at the same time. The reason for this is because like in war, many things all going on all at once and you must watch your surroundings as well as your opponent. Good luck."

XXX

Misa's eye twitched in annoyance before sighing. "Ok this will be an all battle between the four of you. Begin!" She said before she once more ran off the field. After watching yesterday's battle with them, she knew they would wreck this field.

Naruto eyed each of his opponents, waiting for each of them to make a move. If they were start they would all come at him at once since he was the strongest out of the four of them. Thankfully they didn't do that because Kurotsuchi made the first move and rushed Fu. That last Naruto fighting Gaara once again.

"So, just us again, huh? Let's see if you stepped up your game from last time." Naruto stated.

"I have!" Gaara shouted as the wind whipped around him. "**Sand Style: Quicksand Waterfall Flow!"**

Naruto felt the ground shake violently as he also noticed the ground buckle and break a bit, while also looking like less was there. When he looked up, he saw a huge wall of sand converging on him. "Well…shit." Was his reply as it crash down on his small form.

For a moment, all was dead quiet….except for the other battle, but even that was quiet compared to this. Then, all hell broke loose. The sand blew apart as he flew into the air followed by jet streams of black flames. "**Blaze Style: Hellfire Blast!"**

"Did not expect that." Gaara said to himself as he saw standing exactly where the sand had crashed down on him, only in place of some of the sand was quickly melting glass. Another thing he took notice of was the blond's eyes. They were in the form of the Sharingan, something many knew about already, but they were more advanced. Instead of the simple form everyone knows, it was a very intricate design. Not good.

Gaara decided a little help was necessary. So he called out his clone jutsu and out of the sand, over 50 sand clones arose and charged the blond.

"Oh, this will be fun!" Naruto declared as he went in.

XXX

For a while now, Fu and Kurotsuchi had engaged in hand to hand combat, but it was not cutting it. So the Iwa Kunoichi decided to make things more interesting by using second part of her special taijutsu. Explosions.

Kurotsuchi's fists started to glow and went she hit Fu, there was a small explosion that knocked the green haired girl away.

"The hell was that!?" Fu shouted as she stood back up.

"My special Taijutsu style called the Explosion Fist. With each hit, I can create a mini explosion that can range from small concussive blasts like you just experienced or full on earth shaking explosions!" The Iwa Kunoichi declared. "Observe!" She shouted as he punched the sand, creating a small chain reaction of explosions to occur.

Fu grimaced. The sand was actually helping her opponent and not her. She was at a disadvantage because of that, but she had other plans. She could use her special powder to create more explosions or she could use two of the gifts she got from her tailed beast. _Why not all three!_ She thought as she dodged the explosions sent her way by jumping high in the air while releasing the powder once more.

The explosions that Kurotsuchi was still creating were enough of a catalyst to ignite the powder, creating the needed smoke filled cover that Fu needed. She tapped in her demon's chakra, creating wings on her back before taking to the air. She knew that she wasn't going to hit Kurotsuchi on the first strike, but this should be enough to spook the girl. So diving bombing the ground, she unleashed her enhanced strength on the ground, creating a shockwave to ripple through the ground.

Kurotsuchi first heard the buzzing of insect wings and wondered what the hell Fu was doing before the ground shook violently. This put her on high alert. As the buzzing sound returned, her eyes widened as she figured out what was going on. Fu was using her demon's chakra to create wings like a bug's and using the smoke and dust as cover to hit her with whatever was causing the booms.

She got her answer as to what was the cause of the earthshaking booms when Fu landed a few feet from her in a divebomb, hitting the ground with a punch that one again shook and broke the ground.

"Holy crap, this is bad!" Kurotsuchi said aloud, catching Fu attention, who then rushed her faster that she could see and smacked her in the air, right towards a strange structure of sorts in the middle of Naruto and Gaara's battle!

XXX _back to Naruto and Gaara's battle…a few minutes before._

The blond dodged and weaved between the sand made clones of Gaara, trying to find the original while using his scythe to slash away the clones, which seemed to reform after he defeated them. It was annoying as hell and he now knew how his opponents felt when he did the same thing.

"Argh! Now I know how this feels! **Blaze Style: Swirling Inferno!"** He shouted as he lit his scythe on fire before twirling it around as he attacked. When he was done, the area looked gruesome. It was all melting glass with the clones of Gaara all frozen in place, looking like deformed statues.

Gaara saw this and knew he had to do something without going full Shukaku on Naruto, whom he knew could still beat him. After all, it happened last time and Naruto knew how to do it. "Very well," Gaara said aloud as he thrust his arms out and his remaining sand rushed to the melting glass field, swallowing it back up as Naruto looked on, unimpressed. The massive amount of sand spun around Gaara before he put up a hand. It rushed to that spot, forming an absurdly large spear of pure sand.

"Fall by the **Supreme Spear of Shukaku!" ** Gaara announced as he pushed forward, sending the construct at Naruto.

One Naruto saw the formation of the spear, he knew he was in trouble. The blond figured he could just use Real Genjutsu to turn into black smoke to dodge the attack, but that was getting old and would get him nowhere. So he created a clone, formed a Rasengan and had it add an element to it.

In his hand was the end result. It was a pinkish swirling sphere of intense heat. He was not very good with this this element at first, but he had managed to replicate it to his needs and he knew this was going to do a lot of damage, even if he down powered it so as to not kill his friend.

As the large spear flew towards him, he thrust out his out arm and yelled, "**Scorch Style: Rasenyuukai!"**

When the mini star hit the spear, it exploded outwards, engulfing the spear as the pinkish white fire and burning hot sand rushed to Gaara, swirling around him in a pinkish white pillar of heat and pain, Gaara screaming the entire time.

XXX

"Good god that hot!" A roared as he felt the flames from up in the Leader's Box.

"I agree, but I didn't know Naruto had succeeded in recreating the Scorch Release." The Kazekage stated.

"Neither did i. He never used it in our spars." Onoki stated.

"It is impressive nonetheless." Mei replied with big eyes.

"Indeed." Sarutobi sighed, feeling another pang of regret. Naruto could have been great in his village.

XXX

"Damn. Kid really did manage to recreate my style. Didn't actually think he could do it." Pakura replied from her seat next to Temari.

"Well, you obviously underestimated him….we all did." Temari replied with a wide smirk.

XXX

"Aw man that is hot shit!" Kiba roared as he backed up a bit from the torrent of flames.

Ino was sweating a lot, but that didn't stop her from making a joke. "Well Hinata, I knew you thought he was hot stuff before, but now he is scorching hot!"

XXX

"Damn brat, first it is cold here and now it is hot as hell." Tsunade said, sweating a lot. Turning to her heavily pregnant student, she asked, "Shizune, are you and the baby ok?"

"I am fine, but I think the little one will be ready after these exams." Shizune replied.

"I see, that is good news." Tsunade replied happily before the two of them turned back to the battle, the flaming tower finagling dying down.

XXX

As Naruto walked over to the fire born structure, he took notice that Gaara did look to be in pain, a few burnt patches of skin here and there, but not that damaged as he was frozen in place in the structure.

That is when he finally felt the tremors and turned just in time to see Kurotsuchi sailing into the structure, right were Gaara was. The resulting impact shattered the fire born structure as Kurotsuchi and Gaara fell to the group.

Naruto saw that if they did not move and fast, then the structure would fall on top of them. However, they looked pretty out of it, so he decided to help them, after all. They were his friends and he was not aiming to kill them. So activating his special Sharingan that he had been training in, he called out, "**Kamui."**

The result was a swirl in the air that sucked in all of the toppling structure with ease, making it seem like it was never there to begin with.

"Impressive." Fu said from above. "But it won't stop me!" She roared as she dive bombed the blond, who merely stood there with a smirk before bursting into black smoke, using it to constrict her movements.

"What was that Fu-chan, hmmm?" Naruto's voice range out in mirth.

"Argh!" Fu growled before sand enveloped them both.

They looked to see that Gaara was back on his feet, panting heavily "You….could…have…..killed me!"

"But I didn't. "Naruto stated. "I de powered the Fusion Ball considerably because I was not aiming to kill you, just take you out of the game."

"Ugh….it hurt like hell." Gaara groaned as his sand failed, releasing the two.

"I am with you on that sandy. The impact was not pretty." Kurotsuchi groaned, a little out of it as well. Using the Explosion Fist was chakra consuming and the impact hurt like hell!

Naruto looked sadly at his friends. He needed to end this quickly. _What could I use? Izanami's Shadow? A summon? Susanoo?_

"**Use the Susanoo. I want to try something." **Kurama's voice rang out.

_Kurama? I haven't heard from you in awhile._

"**You didn't need my help and you battles were boring to me, so I slept. However, with the use of your Sharingan, I want to try something, so call upon the Susanoo!"**

"Ok…I am ending this now!" Naruto called out.

"We'll see about that!" Fu declared as she called upon more of the demonic chakra, going up to 3 tails with of power.

"**Susanoo!" **Naruto and Kurama called out. The result was much different than expected. Instead of the skeletal specter, an ethereal version of Kurama appeared. The fox's torso appeared around Naruto, protecting him from harm while the rest of the Tailed Beast towered above the three contestants. "What do you have planned?"

"**A quick way for you to end this.**" Kurama declared as he brought up his giant paws and put them together, forming a huge ball of chakra in the air. This made everyone sweat. This was something no one expected. Especially when the giant ball began to swirl like the rasengan, making the three back up as far as they could. "**Tailed Beast Rasengan!"**

Kurama let the ball fall and with it, pure destruction ensued. The entire floor of the arena was once again utterly decimated. The swirling wind brew around the loose ground like it was nothing and knocked the three other contestants away and into the walls of the arena, knocking them all out.

When all was said and done, Naruto stood in the middle of a giant crater in the arena floor, his Kyuubified Susanoo gone.

Misa sweat dropped again at the devastation that Naruto's attack once more caused. "Well, you all should know this, but Naruto has won again and this means that he has one the Chunin Exams!"

Once more the crowd went wild.

Naruto was just glad that Kurama had enough sense to de power that last attack as well or his friends would have died. Still, it made him wonder what his real Susanoo would look like

XXX

**All I needed was a couple good nights' rest. So I hoped you liked that last chapter. I soooooo wanted to the Chunin Exams to be done with, so I did this. **

**Also, Rasenyuukai means Spiraling Fusion.**

**I have to go home now….REVIEW!**


	20. The Core of the Earth

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 20**

**Thought i could release this on the weekend, apparently i was wrong. I also don't have time to proof read this since i have to be at work in a few minutes, so please tell me if there are a lot of mistakes.**

"OH COME ON!"

Mifune was on his knees in shock. The arena floor was destroyed yet again. While last time the arena floor was destroyed in a way of a freaking punch and other such jutsu that it was somewhat easy to fix. Just smooth it out and you were good to go. Now it was a giant freaking spiral crater.

How the hell do you fix that?!

The Kage of each hidden village gave him a look of pity, they were not sure how to fix that either and luckily, none of them had to.

Mifune calmed himself with a deep breath and said, "Well, it seems we have a winner for out Chunin Exams this year. Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowds roared once more in approval.

Mifune put on a small smile and said. "This marks the end of the third time we have hosted the Chunin Exams and like all other times, we have seen great potential and great prowess displayed. Like the first time when Hiruzen Sarutobi entered, fighting against the odds with his own powerful adversaries, one of them is a follow Kage like himself, Onoki of Both Scales.

Both Kages gave a sidelong glance at one another before smirking. Now that was a great battle. It was the first time they ever did combat with one another, but it sure was not the last. Each time they fought, they noticed how powerful they were getting. Sure there might have been a rivalry between Sarutobi and Danzo, but that was for the position of Hokage.

This rivalry was something true. A rivalry that was tested many times in the heat of war. A rivalry that gained respect for the other and at times, a strained friendship.

Mifune stared down at the crowds, marveling at how such young people could be so strong. He was younger when the second exam happened and he was the second in command that time. That time, everyone had power as well.

"Now, it is time to say farewell to each other and return home. Good luck to you all!"

XXX

"So Misa, how are you going to get to Iwa?" Naruto asked curiously as he and the other Iwa Ninja stood at the gates out of Iron Country.

Misa smiled sweetly before kissing the blond on the lips. "I am coming with you of course!"

"Huh? Won't Mifune filet me alive if you did that?" Naruto nervously asked.

"You won't have to worry about that boy!" Onoki said as he came up to them with Mifune at his side. "We have agreed on a temporary alliance until we can iron out a few things. The main thing has already happened with you and Misa being together."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Mifune started as he towered over the blond. "You have interested me greatly since we first met and I feel that if you ever made Kage, you would be a good ruler of your ninja. And with this alliance, I will do my best to aid you. However, I am saying this as a father, if you hurt my daughter in anyway, I will kill you, alliance be damned."

The blond gulped. "Got it."

"Good." Mifune stated as he backed up, his towering form and oppressive atmosphere dying off with a small smile.

"Yeah, that scared even me." Haku nervously stated.

"That was obviously the intention." Guren whispered.

"I guess we better be going then." Kurotsuchi announced.

"Not yet, we are waiting for someone else to join us." Onoki replied.

"Who?" Suzumebachi and Akatsuchi asked at the same time.

"Why me of course!" Fu voices as she ran up to them, shocking all the young ninja.

"I thought you had to go back to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall." Naruto said.

Fu smiled sadly as she shook her head. "No, Shibuki thought it would be best that I remain with you and sent my team to the Chunin Exams as a front. You see, we found out one of the Akatsuki members was someone from our village and it scared the shit out of everyone because by now he should be dead. So they sent me to you knowing that you could protect me."

Onoki rose an eyebrow at that statement. To be honest, there weren't many shinobi from Waterfall that were famous, let alone strong. There could only be one person that matched that description. "Kakuzu." He stated.

Fu nodded solemnly.

Onoki sighed at that. That man was a dangerous one, word was that he even fought the First Hokage and lived. To have survived this long, it was scary testament to how strong he is. The old Kage eyed his student, who gave a subtle nod. Onoki sighed again. "Very wello, you can come with us, but you will have to be one of my ninja or part of Naruto's group I am having him make."

"I don't mind!" Fu replied happily.

"Very well. Let's go." Onoki replied with an air of finality. However, before they could make one step out of the gate, a wall of sand blocked their exit.

"Not even going to say good bye?" Gaara's gravel like voice asked with some amusement.

Naruto chuckled. "Didn't know if you had left already or not."

"Nope." Kankuro replied with a slight smirk.

"You are not getting off that easily." Temari stated as she walked up to her fellow blond. A smile crept on her lips and she said, "I want to say good bye for now, but once this alliance is concrete, I will be your way shortly." She finished with a kiss of his lips.

When Temari broke off, she glared at Kurotsuchi. "That is when we will have a rematch."

Kurotsuchi glared back and sparks could be seen between them. "I'll gladly put you in your place again."

"We'll see." Temari replied.

"Should I be worried." Naruto voiced, not really expecting anyone to answer.

"You have no idea." Kitsuchi stated with a small chuckle. He didn't really like this kid all that much, especially with the fact that he was with HIS daughter, but whatever, he could deal with it. Like messing with the kid in times like these.

"Can we go now?" Onoki asked, a little annoyed. His back with hurting him more than usual and he wanted to get home. Now.

"Right behind you old man." Naruto replied with a smirk, which caused said old man to grumble.

XXX

Onoki sighed in relief as he finally sat back down in his therapeutic chair. Still, the state of his back was troubling. The pain was starting to become unbearable at certain points and he knew that if he started a battle, it would affect him and that would make him uncertain of he could win a high level Kage battle.

That was part of the reason he was going to make Naruto the Tsuchikage soon….other than the fact that Kurotsuchi was right about him being old. The job of being in charge of all these people, ninja and civilian a like, was exhausting. And he's been doing it since he was 20, just like Sarutobi! Which was another surprising thing. How the hell did that old coot do it?

Oh well, best not to dwell on it. After all, he had things to do. Like decide the new rank for Naruto and his team. In all honesty, he could not make them Chunin after all that he had seen. No, Chunin was not enough. Naruto was a jinchuriki and was trained by him and the now deceased Zabuza.

With a nod to himself, he addressed the 6 genin in his office. "Akatsuchi, Suzumebachi, and Guren. You three did very well with the odds against you three. Akatsuchi, you fought Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the one tail and lost because of his use of the sand. Still, you did well." Akatsuchi gave a small smile at that. "Suzumebachi, you made it to the final rounds, but after seeing what you had to fight, you wisely backed off. That is not bad. One has to use their brain after all. So, you two will be made Chunin, congrats." He threw them their flak jackets, the brown jackets that all high level Iwa wear.

Onoki turned to Guren and smile. "Your team will need a leader and from what I have seen of your fighting prowess so far, you are perfect for them, Jonin Guren" Guren smiled brightly as she too took her flak jacket, her two teammates giving her high fives.

Onoki turned to his newest ninja from Hidden Waterfall. Another jinchuriki, which made four in his village now. "Fu. Since you are strong in your own right and with the power of a Tailed Beast on your side, I shall make you a Jonin as well. However, you are without a team, therefore, I am pairing you with Han and Roshi, Iwa's Jinchurikis of the five and four tails respectively. You will be Team Jinchuriki, with Naruto helping out occasionally."

"Awesome." Fu replied with a smile

Finally, Onoki turned to Naruto's team. "Haku, despite the bunder that was your prelim fight, I cannot in good faith let you simply be a Chunin. After all, you are my student as well. So I am making you a Jonin." Haku nodded, a bit shocked by that info. He didn't even think he would make it to Chunin this time. "Kurotsuchi, you creativity of the use of both Lava and Explosion release is remarkable and I have decided to make you Jonin as well."

"Thank you grandpa." Kurotsuchi replied with a smile, which Onoki mirrored.

"Now, finally we have Naruto. To make my plan of getting the Uzumaki Clan back up and running in this village, you will be the Clan Head of it as well as Jonin, which is required. Now, as you are all aware of by now. Naruto will replace me as Tsuchikage soon." Kitsuchi twitched at this, making Onoki inwardly groan about forgetting to tell him. "However, like last time, I have a final test."

Kitsuchi cringed. He knew that test. It was what Deidara had to do before he went nuts.

"Like Deidara, who made the Explosion Corp., I want you, Naruto, to create a group that will help the village grow strong. Have you thought about it?"

Naruto nodded as he took a step forward. "Yes. Knowing that I am from Konoha, I will take something from them. You see, Konoha has the ROOT, run by Danzo, however, he uses his men as pure tools and does not even see them as human."

Onoki nodded, having seen this before.

"Here, we will have the CORE. While the Roots of Konoha's Tree have rotted, the Core of the Earth is still burning strongly." Naruto declared. "My group will have the strongest of the village protecting said village. We are protectors of the village. If people need help with getting stronger, we will help them. If the village is in trouble, we will protect it!"

Onoki stared at the boy with an emotionless look before a smile crept its way to his face. A group made to solely protect their home in any way possible. He liked it. After all, Kumo had Killer Bee as their main protector, his village will have a whole group of people. Brilliant.

"I love it." Onoki stated. "Who will be part of this group?"

"Anyone." Naruto stated. "The strongest of this village will kick up their own training to be in this group and then provide that training to anyone who needs it. To start off, my team, Team Reaper will be in it. Team Earth Hive, which consists of Guren, Akatsuki, and Suzumebachi. And Team Jinchuriki will be the starting people."

"We are going to need more than that." Haku stated.

"True. I volunteer." Kitsuchi replied

"Sweet!" Kurotsuchi chirped.

"Hmm, my brothers might be willing to help out." Suzumebachi offered.

"And that would be another team." Kitsuchi replied, nodding to himself.

"Now who else?" Naruto asked.

Onoki put on a thoughtful look on his face before he smiled. "How about I announce the group to the village and they decide who wants to join up. However, not everyone will be able or willing to join after what happened with Deidara and his Explosion Corps. That being said, do you have anyone you have in mind?"

Naruto thought about it for a while before he remembered his time in the desert. Orochimaru was dead and there had been rumors of him creating a village of his own. Looking to the old dwarf of a Kage, Naruto relayed this info to him, making Onoki's eyes widen.

"Boy, you should have told me this sooner. There has been odd things going on in Rice Country and now this confirms it. Without a leader like Orochimaru, that place is tearing itself apart!" Onoki replied. "After we are doing announcing your position to the village, I am assigning your team to check out what the statues of that place is and if you can recruit anybody. This will be the Core's first mission."

Naruto noticed that everyone gave Onoki their full attention on this and knew that he had picked right. They were all powerful and loyal, something he needed to help him protect this village, his new home.

XXX

Onoki stared at the gathered village in front of Iwa's Kage tower, which was a giant mountain in the center of the village with the other buildings were built into the rock of the uprising earth and in the canyon like crevices throughout the village.

He had ruled this great village for a long time and none dared to oppose him. He was the strongest ninja they had. They followed him this long and they prospered for it. Now they would know that he had chosen a successor, this time someone stable.

"People of Iwa, I come before you to tell you that I have chosen a successor, but unlike Deidara, he is stable!" Onoki shouted to his people. "But just like Deidara, he will make his own group of powerful agents in this village."

There was a murmuring in the crowd, many unsure how this would play out, others wondering who the successor was, and others just plain doubtful. They were a stubborn people, hardened by the earth they lived in. They would not be easily swayed by this successor whom they wanted to prove to them that they could handle the position of Tsuchikage.

Some had an idea as to who this person was. Some had already accepted him while others were more realistic.

"He comes from a great clan that we, in our fear, destroyed in old wars. His clan will be rebuilt here and help protect us. His name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

As Naruto walked up to the Kage and stood next to him. He wanted as the crowd was a mix of reactions. Some were ok with it and some were not. He needed to reassure them somehow and he knew that showing force was not going to win them over. He needed something powerful to do that and he would use one of the most powerful weapons around. Words.

So the blond put a hand on his mentor's shoulder to let him know he would convince them himself. Onoki stared at the boy for a moment before backing off. Naruto stared at the crowd of unruly people until they quieted down.

"My Name is Naruto Uzumaki. It is true that I am from the Uzumaki Clan. One of the Last. But that does not mean I am the weakest. Some of you already know this, but my father is someone you all know of and fear. While he used his power in the last war to kill you off in a flash of yellow, I will use the Core of the Earth to protect you all!"

That statement got two reactions. Many were starting to be moved by the blond's words and were going to his side, while others remembered the last war and their expression's darkened. Not sure or unwilling to be swayed so easily by the Son of the Yellow Flash. But one question was on everyone's mind. What did he mean by Core of the Earth?

Naruto knew he needed to say something to them all on his side and soon. He struggled to find something before his mind wandered to what Sarutobi would have done. That made him wonder why he thought of the old man but it still gave him the needed motivation. The Will of Fire.

Nodding to himself he addressed the populace once more. "You all know I am from Konoha, but now I am here, this is where my loyalties lie! The Core. That is the group I am making. A group made for one purpose. To protect this place and all those residing here! You are the EARTH! WE ARE THE CORE!" he paused, seeing he had their full attention now. "Konoha has the Will of Fire, but so far, I have heard NOTHING of what you all believe in. Let me give you want you need to believe in!"

The crowd was roaring now, shouting at him reveal it.

"Core of the Earth is surrounded in superheated rock that is called Lava or Magma, whatever! That is what the volcanoes spew to create more Earth! So believe in that! The Heat of the Core! With that, we will show the world that can be just as strong or even far stronger than Konoha! With lava in our veins, we will show the world the HEAT OF THE CORE!"

Onoki watched with wide eyes as the people of Iwa rallied under Naruto's words, showing that they believed in him and that he had truly given them something to believe in, something that he himself never managed to do.

With a smile, the old man turned from his position to head back into the tower. "You'll do just fine boy."

XXX

Naruto, Kurotsuchi, Misa, and Haku stood by the gates out of Iwa, awaiting their last member that was joining them on their mission to Rice Country. Soon they saw him.

"Alright, everything in set. Tsuchikage-sama has given us our own building to operate in. Jibachi is in charge while we are away and signing in those that wish to join us." Kitsuchi replied. "I gotta say kid, I didn't think you could pull it off. I am glad you proved me wrong. You might make a great leader yet."

"Thank you." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Yes, that speech was well worth it." Haku said with a smile as he patted Naruto on the back.

"I'll say!" Kurotsuchi said. "I never saw the village like that before."

"Indeed." Kitsuchi stated. "So, are we ready to head out?"

"Yep!" All four new jonin chirped.

"Good, let's roll." Kitsuchi ordered before they rushed out of the village and to Rice Country.

XXX

"Hinata, you did will in the prelims. Your quick thinking and leadership skills with unknown teammates was pretty good, considering that one of them was from Kumo." Hiruzen Sarutobi stated as he addressed the young girl before him. Her and Sasuke where the only ones to catch his attention for the rank of Chunin.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hinata replied politely.

"Therefore, like Sasuke, I am making you chunin. Congrats." He said as he threw the two genin turned chunin their flak jackets. "I expect great things from you two. Dismissed." The two bowed and left. _The rest is up to you Hiashi, time for you to clear things up with your family._

As they two were leaving the room, a man hobbled past them with a stare that made them both shiver. It was no the man himself or a simple stare that made them act like that. It was the way he stared at them. Like tools or pieces of meat that were expendable, that made them shiver.

However, it didn't last long as they quickly made their way past him and the door slammed shut, cutting them off from the Hokage and the dark mystery man. Shaking it off, the two nodded to each other before walking off to their team and family respectively.

Sarutobi sighed as the watched Danzo scare his new chunin as he walked in. He knew that this was coming. Danzo was probably here to confront him about Sai. "Danzo."

"Sarutobi." Danzo replied curtly.

"To what do I owe this meeting for?"

"You know."

"I suppose I do, but I don't see why you care. After all, you said that he was just an orphan." Sarutobi stated calmly.

Danzo ground his teeth. "I know what I said! I said that to him because I needed a loyal emotionless soldier, not a son! My ninja are nothing but tools to be used! He was no different!"

Sarutobi shook his head. "Is that what you told your wife before you killed her? Danzo, you are deluding yourself with this. You have lost yourself in your own madness and cannot escape. I am afraid that this is it for you." He said as he motioned for his hidden ANBU to take care of Danzo.

As they were upon the seemingly crippled man, Danzo lost his temper. "NO!" he shouted as his ROOT agents appeared and killed Sarutobi's men with deadly force, making the Hokage's eyes widen. "No, Sarutobi. It is the other way around. I will end you myself!" Danzo roared as he kicked his rival out of the window and onto the streets below.

Sarutobi landed on his feet and looked up to see Danzo already closing in. "Are you really that power hungry, Danzo?!"

"No! I am just tired of waiting for you to make the right choices!" Danzo shouted as he threw a kick to Sarutobi's chest, which the old monkey caught. "You have made all the wrong choices! Not killing Orochimaru when you had the chance. Not making Kushin our weapon when the time was right and making the same mistake with Naruto, who is now with Iwa, our enemy!" Danzo threw a punch, which Sarutobi had to let go of Danzo's leg to block.

"I don't care who his parents were! It is time to make right choices and make Konoha a true ninja village! I love this village more than you and I am taking it by force!" Danzo shouted as his root agents appeared all around him before shooting off to kill of civilians and ninja alike who he thought were just useless to his village.

Sarutobi's eye widened at this as he ninja fought Danzo's in broad day light and in the streets like they had just a few moments ago. "Danzo, this is madness!"

"No, the madness is how long I have waited for this." Danzo replied clamly, once again in control of his own emotions. He then ripped off the case around his 'useless' arm, showing the world what he had done to it. He also ripped off the bandages around his hidden Sharingan eye. "Victory, at any cost."

Sarutobi closed his eyes in pain at what his old friend had become before snapping them open to show his battle hardened eyes. "So, this is the end then."

"Indeed." Danzo replied before they charged at one another.

XXX

Pein, also known as Nagato, stared down at the village of Konoha in apathy as the village burned. He watched as jutsu flew from one person to the other. Sometimes creating a shower of blood, while at other times destroy the village around them.

Konan looked on as well. "Do we attack now?"

The Deva Path shook his head. "No. Let them battle for a little while. Then we shall show them true pein as their battle was for nothing." The deve path turn to the young Uchiha next to him. "Itachi, can you attake your old village."

Itachi stayed silent for a few moments. His face emotionless while his mind a maelstrom of emotion. Disbelief and sadness among the top few emotions. It hurt him to see that Konoha was like this and he also knew that now there was no hope for them. "Yes, but I must be the one to kill my brother."

"Very well." Pein replied as he stared back down at the burning village.

The Battle for Konoha had began.

And it would not end on a happy note.

XXXXX

**And there we go. A good filler chapter leading into the Fate of Konoha. What will happen? Who will survive? Only time will tell. **

**Oh, I just notice that Root had the Ne symbol on their masks, what should be Naruto's Core symbol?**

**Review!**


	21. And Boom Goes the Dynamite

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 21**

_With Sakura and Kakashi before the two old men started the end of Konoha._

The two where sparring while they were waiting for Sasuke to get back from his meeting with the Hokage. They knew he was getting promoted and they couldn't be happier, but Sakura was pissed. She had done horribly in the Iron Country Chunin Exams and felt weak.

In an attempt to ratify that, she asked both Kakashi and Sasuke to help her with her training. And they both agreed. Only, they didn't start this in Konoha. They started in Iron Country and continued as they traveled back to Konoha. But it was mostly Taijutsu since that was what she needed the most. Yes, she would admit that she was weak and she was working to stop that.

Now she had a decent Taijutsu style from Kakashi, to which she was proficient in, but she needed to strength to pull of the higher level moves. That was fine because she would work on that with Lee's preferred method of training one's strength, insane weights.

Also, she had picked up a few genjutsu scrolls from the library since she had the control for them along with some medical scrolls. However, the high level genjutsu she had gotten from Kurenai, something the woman had been happy about since none of her own students seemed interested in the art of illusions.

Finally was ninjutsu. She had the academy three and that was it. Thanks to Kakashi, she learned that her elemental affinity was lightning of all things and that made Sasuke smirk and Kakashi to widen his…eye.

They immediately got to work on that and Sasuke _shared_ his known lightning jutsus with her. No seriously, Sasuke actually SHARED his jutsu. In reality, Sasuke thought that with Sai gone from their team, along with Naruto, they needed more power and with the reveal of Sakura's element, maybe things would change and he would have a worthy partner to fight alongside him. So he gave her a scroll of his lightning based jutsu so that they could work in tandem.

There was one other thing too. Ever since Naruto had left, the two had indeed gotten closer. They had become friends, often complaining about Sai's behavior towards them. However, it wasn't until after the Chunin Exams that Sasuke decided to say 'fuck it' and he agreed to go out on a date with Sakura. It was nothing major, just a simple little affair and to be honest, it wasn't bad. So they often were seen together after that, much to the anger of Sasuke's old fanclub.

Sakura put up a hand to signify that she had run out of juice and for Kakashi to stop his onslaught. She was getting better, but to her, she got tired way too often. Deciding to put her mind off of that, she looked to Kakashi and asked, "Hey Kakashi-sensei, where are the Ichiraku's? I haven't seen either one of them since we returned."

Kakashi shook his head. "From what I was told, they left here around the time that we were almost done with the Chunin Exams. They felt they could not stand by this village anymore because of the treatment of their best customer. I think they are heading to Iwa to set up shop."

"Oh…well that sucks." Sakura groaned. She could use to ramen right about now.

Her complaint was cut short as Sasuke ran onto the training ground, looking tired and cut up. Kakashi narrowed his eye and said, "Report."

"Ugh, soon as I got out of the Hokage Tower, shit hit the fan. Danzo attacked the Hokage by kicking him out of the man's office, literally!" Sasuke shouted. "Then Danzo's root agent all came out of the wood works and started attacking people, even the civilians! I came to get you guys to help out. Things look really bad."

"Shit, I should have expected this." Kakashi said. "Come on, we got to-"

He didn't finish his sentence because of their person now blocking their path to the village. Sasuke was about ask what was up until he heard _his_ voice. "I am afraid I can't let you do that."

"Itachi!" Sasuke shouted as he turned around to see his brother just standing there, mock him. However, he didn't just charge at the man because he remembered what Naruto had said and what his brother had done to the blond. So he decided to play this smart. 'What the hell are you doing here?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow but decided to answer. "Simple. Our leader wants this place eradicated. Your elders have started the end; Leader-sama will finish it."

"Not good." Kakashi grounded out, thinking rapidly on how to get past Itachi with his students and help out the village.

"Don't bother Kakashi." Itachi said as he appeared behind the one eyed man, with his back towards him, but both men were staring at each other in the eyes. 'I have already caught you."

Sasuke, seeing that his teacher was in trouble, rounded on Sakura for her help. "Sakura! Come on we-" Sasuke looked on with wide disbelieving eyes. Itachi was not only by Kakashi, but right by Sakura and it was not pretty. Sasuke saw Itachi take a swipe with his kunai and Sakura was on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, both her eyes gone. Then he saw Kakashi, hyperventilate to whatever Itachi was doing to him and then fall flat on his face.

Sasuke stared in shock at his two remaining teammates. There unmoving forms digging at Sasuke's psyche before he stared at Itachi, his own heartbeat pounding in his ears as tears ran down his eyes. Itachi had taken everything from him, again!

Itachi widened his eyes as he watched Sasuke's eyes activate into the Sharingan and then into the Mangekyo Sharingan on its own. _It's time then._ He thought sadly as he took a subtle stance and prepared himself as Sasuke charged him.

XXX

Naruto was…bored. They had camped outside a sound base and he was pretty sure they could have gone in last night, but Kitsuchi and Haku had a good point. They needed to be ready for whatever lay inside the base of a former mad man,

Thankfully now, they were at entrance and all rested up. They could actually do something. Other than him cowering in fear of Kitsuchi's fatherly wrath.

Oh well. As they walked in, they were already regretting it because of the body that was lying on the ground. Naruto recognized as a Kayuga. The white haired man was still alive, but he looked very weak. He looked at them for a moment before he weakly pointed at Naruto and rasped out, "This…is your fault."

The group looked at each other before they crouched down to the man's level and asked, "What do you mean?"

The man coughed violently before saying. "With Orochimaru gone, his men have turned on each other. This place is a blood bath and they were all nuts to begin with, so this event made it worse." The man paused and asked. "Why are you here?"

"Um, to get the survivors and offer them a chance to live in Iwa." Haku stated.

The Kayuga nodded to himself before forcing himself on his feet. "Very well. If you wish to give us a chance, then fine, but you will need to kill certain people for it to work. Also, I know of a few good survivors that may join you….but I do not trust you…yet."

"Noted." Naruto said as he followed the man deep into the recesses of what was once Oto.

XXX

Both men of almost equal age where tired as hell. They were truly too old for this shit and they were on their last legs. Sarutobi had multiple stab wounds and his ninja outfit with covered in blood. And not all of it was his own, from Danzo to the random root agent that got in their way.

Then there was Danzo. The bandages around his Sharingan eye were shredded as they exposed his only remaining Sharingan. The rest of his outfit was shredded and burned as well, but the most damage he took was his newly implanted arm with multiple Sharingan on it. It had taken Enma, the Monkey King and Sarutobi's personal summon, less than a minute to rip off the appendage from the man's body after he saw Danzo use its power a few times and then deal Sarutobi a crippling blow to the leg.

Despite the situation, Sarutobi sighed and chuckled. "It seems this stupid war has cost us an arm and a leg, eh Danzo?"

"Fuck you!" Danzo shouted out as blood poured from his shoulder wound. "If you had just done you job as a Kage and made the right decisions, then none of this bullshit would have happened!"

"And that's what makes us different, Danzo and a reason why the Second chose me as the Third Hokage and not you. We are too different when it comes to the important decisions. I have tried to keep this village in the light while you the dark, and the end results are in the twilight."

"Oh spar me you light speech. We are fucking ninja. We do the dirty jobs that mercs and samurai can't or won't do." Danzo argued.

"It doesn't matter now." A voice monotone out as he appeared behind Sarutobi. It was a man in an Akatsuki cloak with long orange hair. Sarutobi cursed at his lack of guard despite the pain in his crippled leg.

"Sarutobi! MOVE!" Enma screamed while in his staff mode.

However, it was too late because as soon as Sarutobi turned his head to see the person that had interrupted their fight, the long haired man had put a hand on the old man's head a did a pulling motion, effectively pull out the old monkey's soul.

Danzo watched in horror and a bit of anger that this person killed the man he was fighting. That was his job damnit! Still, to pull a soul out of someone's body was no laughing matter and he could do much with the pain he was in. He watched his old strained friend and rival fell lifelessly to the floor as his summon poofed out of existence. 'Who the hell are you!?"

"He is me." Another voice said, but in the same monotone.

Danzo looked on in horror to see a man he knew to be dead. "How?! I saw you run yourself through on Hanzo's blade!"

The short and spiky, orange haired man rose an eyebrow at that. "So you remember this form? At least one of you did. Hanzo did not. Still, it matters not as you will die just like he did."

"Like hell I will!" Danzo roared as he used another power of the Sharingan in a last ditch effort to stay alive. "**Amaterasu!"**

"Pitiful." The man replied before he held up his hand and said. "**Shinra Tensei." **The Black flames were rebound back at a stunned Danzo, who fell victim to the flames as he screamed for dear life in the wake of the flames burning him alive.

The man, also known as Pain, paid no attention to Danzo's screams because his hearing was picking up the sound of thousands of birds.

XXX _A few minutes before_

Kakashi groggily got on all fours and collected his thoughts. He was not really sure why, but it seemed that Itachi was helping them in his own way. Itachi, in the Tsukiyomi, explained to Kakashi that it was the elders who ordered him to kill his clan because of a possible coup da tat. What got Kakashi about that was why couldn't they reason with the Uchiha? Oh well, what is done is done.

Itachi then went on to say that Konoha would fall today and there was no stop it, so the nuke-nin asked Kakashi to save as many as he could while creating another pseudo Uchiha that could not succumb to their family cause, just like him.

When asked how he would even do that, Itachi smiled sadly as he tapped his own eye and the said, Sakura. The rest he would do himself.

So here Kakashi was, staring at the prone form of Sakura as Sasuke and Itachi were fightning not far from where they were. Apparently, the two noncombatants were hidden in a genjutsu to keep Sasuke's attention on Itachi. Still, Kakashi could not believe his eyes, Sakura's own eyes were gone!

Next to her was a box with a single eye in it, one of Itachi's own eyes. And on the box, was a note. _My brother's eye will soon follow through a seal. Make sure you implant these right._

So this was Itachi's plan….it sucked in his opinion.

But Kakashi understood, he was trying to recreate the Uchiha in a new light, give them a second chance. Now it was all up to Kakashi. He needed to get Sakura out of here and save others.

XXX

Shikamaru was not have a good day and it had gone beyond troublesome in his opinion. First there was a commotion by the Kage Tower, which led to strange masked ANBU to appeared everywhere and started killing people left and right. It was just so stupid!

And to top off his bad day, strange cloaked men with red clouds on them joined the fray and killed off both sides. Now he and his team were fighting for their lives alongside Genma, Hayate, and Yugao against three of the cloaked men.

One of which was a stupidly tall blue skinned man with killer eyes as he fought Genma and Hayate.

Next was a silver haired, foul mouth man that was fight Asuma and some reinforcements in the form of Kotetsu and Izumo. They were having a hard time due to the fact that they learned the hard way that the man couldn't die and could kill you through 'killing' himself. As seen by the dead ninja near his feet. Shikamaru was thinking up ways to help them as best he could with all the madness going on while also keeping an eye on his teammates and their last offender.

A creepy man with pure green eyes and his mouth was covered. He seemed to be mocking them most of the time and seemed to have scared Yugao with the phrase of him once fighting the First Hokage and living to tell the tale.

Thankfully his thoughts where calmed down as he heard the chirping of many many bird and in rushed Kakahi with a clone right behind him, carrying a bandaged Sakura. Kakashi himself shoved his fist right through the green eyed man's chest, but it seemed that man was still alive and was now pissed off.

The clone then landed next to Shikamaru and the others that were given a temporary reprieve from fighting. "How are things going on around here?" The Kakashi Clone asked.

"Horrible." Shikamaru grumbled. "We have Hayate and Genma fighting off what seems to be a former Swordsman of the Mist. The worst one I would guess because Genma mentioned him being the Tailless Tailed Beast." The Clone cursed at that. "Then we have a guy named Hiden and his a religious nut job that seems to be immortal and if injured with the blood of someone he ingested, can kill you by killing himself." Shikamaru seemed more focused on this guy than others it seemed to Kakashi's clone. "Finally we have the one the real you is trying to kill. Yugao mentioned that his name was Kakuzu. He seems to be a different kind of immortal since Yugao managed to slice up a mask of his, making said man to curse and say that he will take her heart to replace the one she destroyed."

Kakashi clone nodded, "I see, I will see what I can do."

"Wait, what happened to Sakura?" Shikamaru asked.

"Her eyes are gone thanks to Itachi….i'll explain later." The clone sighed at Shikamaru's questioning look. "I'll explain later, just know that they wanted to fight alone."

"Their nuts" Shikamaru deadpanned. "But I have a plan."

"Right." The clone replied before it went poof to the relay the new info to the original.

Shikamaru sighed as he signaled to Ino and Choji to him.

"What's up?" Choji asked in a slight panic.

"I have a plan and I need help from both of you." Shikamaru stated. "Choji, I need to you use your jutsu to dig a large whole in the ground where I will set some traps. Ino, when the time is right, project yourself into that Hidan guy and drop the body into the trap filled hole and get yourself out of there quickly."

Ino looked at her teammate in annoyance. "Have you lost your mind? How do you even know this will work, not to mention how long it will take?!"

Shikamaru sighed. "This guy is not very bright and if my suspicions are correct, he is the weakest of this group. Just trust me."

"Fine, but if I get killed I am haunting your ass!" Ino growled as she got ready.

"That will be the least of my worries if that happens and we fail." Shikamaru said under his breath as he went to Asuma to tell me to be ready.

XXX

Kakashi was getting pissed off. With the help of Yugao, they may have managed to get out another heart, but it just kept on getting harder for them to land a hit. Kakuzu was a bitch to hit, no wonder he survived fighting their First Hokage.

"I have had enough of you fools." Kakuzu muttered as he ripped of the rest of his cloak and strange threads burst from his body. "I will kill you all and take the hearts you destroyed!"

"Not going to happen!" A voice rang out as a snake shot out the ground and bit into the now floating mask hovering near the man.

"ARGH!" Kakuzu roared in pain as he convulsed and writhed around until he went still. The surprise attack had successfully destroyed another heart. That was four down, only one more to go.

And who was this mystery person? Well…

A black ball short out the same hole from which the snake came out of and when it unfurled, a woman was standing under a black sign that said, "Beware the Sexy, Anko Mitarashi!"

"Anko...i am so glad to see you." Yugao panted with a smile. "You saved our ass but why are you here?"

"To help of course!" Anko boasted. "Besides, I had to help somewhere. After all, Ibuki was off help the Hyuuga with some orange haired guy that could summon any kind of animal he wanted!"

"Ugh, you bitch." Kakuzu weakly grounded out as he slowly got up. These fucking ninja had destroyed his hearts and left vemon in his system. He needed to finish this now and recover his hearts before it is too. "I am going to kill you!

"Great." Kakashi groaned. These guys just kept getting better and better. They were totally unprepared for this. "Anko, Yugao, I need you to distract him for a moment. I have a plan!"

"Works for me!" Anko cheered as she took out a kunai, licked it, and then went at the man alongside Yugao. "Hey mummy boy, how's the vemon treating you?"

"Fuck you!" Kakuzu roared as he sent a lightning bolt to her head.

Anko laughed as she side stepped the attack. "Tempting, but sex with you would be too kinky, even for me!"

"Argh!" Kakuzu roared in annoyance and pain because Yugao, in Kakuzu and weakened and distracted state, cut his left arm clean off.

"Focus Anko, we don't need you mind in the gutter!" Yugao stated with a slight smirk as she dodged a swipe from the man.

"But that is the best place to be! More fun!" Anko cheered.

Kakashi chuckled at his temporary teammate's fun. Anko was usually fun and games, even in her torture missions. Anko was just a ball of fun. But this fun was over because he had what he needed. "Anko! Yugao! Move!"

The two women did so as a swirl in the air appeared right before Kakuzu's exposed chest. "This is end for you Kakuzu, **Kamui!**" he simple said as Kakuzu's chest exploded in a shower of gore before the man slumped over, dead.

"Ugh, that a pain, glad that's over." Yugao said.

"No, this is far from over." Kakashi said as he noticed Shikamaru pulling of his plan.

XXX

Asuma watch in shock, mild amusement, and pride as his students quickly took control of the situation and battled a freaking S-class ninja. OK, he had to admit that this was not much of a battle because Ino, just took hold Hidan mind and body.

"Well…this is way easy that I thought it would be." Ino/Hidan said with mild confusion. "Wow, Shikamaru, you were right, this guy is pretty stupid!"

"Just hurry up and get him to the hole, Ino!" Shikamaru complained in annoyance.

The figure of Hidan nodded before skipping over to said hole in a very girly manner, getting many to chuckle…or be a bit creeped out. Hidan stopped at the hole and then looked at Shikamaru. "Remember Shika, if I die I am haunting you!"

"Whatever, just drop the body already!"

"Fine!" Ino/Hidan shouted before she did. As she feel she noticed the traps linked to what seemed to be shadows. That made Ino smirk before she release her hold over Hidan.

Hidan shook his head before he took notice of where he was at. He was falling in a very deep hole and he felt nauseous. However, he didn't get much time to think on this because the ground around him exploded into activity.

Wires, tags, and what looked like shadows all wrapped around him in a cocoon of death. "Ok…this fucking sucks!"

A shadow from above made him look up to see the figure of Shikamaru standing there with a bored expression on his face and lit match in hand. Shikamaru didn't like this guy and if he live any longer, then people he cared about would die. If he had to take a life to save his precious people then fine.

"Where's your god now?" Shikamaru muttered loud enough for Hidan to hear.

While annoyed with the boy's statement, Hidan was more focused on the important thing for once and that was the lit match that was heading towards him. Then it finally clicked what was about to happen. From the tags all around him to the small fire coming his way, he knew this would not end well for him.

"WHAT THE FU-"Hidan roared out before he was engulfed in a mighty explosion. However, all he did was laugh as he was burned and blown to bit and soon, that quieted down as well because the hole collapsed in on itself, burying the insane immortal for all eternity.

Shikamaru stared at the now covered hole in sadness with a hint of apathy. This was the first kill he ever made, but he did it to save his friends. That meant something…right?

Asuma came up behind the boy and placed a comforting hand on the boy. "I know what you are feeling, but you need to remember this feeling because it keeps you human." Shikamaru nodded slowly.

"Good job." Kakashi said as he, Anko, and Yugao came up alongside Ino and Choji.

"So what now?" Izumo asked as he watched his partner go and help Hayate and Genma fight off Kisame, who looked to be winning.

"We need to figure out a way to kill him as well." Kakashi said as he glared at the blue skinned man.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A loud voice boomed as it slammed into Kisame's face just as he was about to critically injure Hayate. Kisame was sent flying into a nearby building, giving the others more time to think up a plan. "Hello my youthful friends! I thought me and my team could help out." He said as said team jumped in. However, when Lee saw the sorry state Sakura was in he rushed to her side, where Ino already was.

"Guy?" Kakashi asked. "Where were you five minutes ago?"

"Oh, some unyouthful artists where in our way." Guy stated with a frown. "Ironically, a platoon of Root Agents inferred and gave us a chance to beat them. However, the leader of the platoon, who I suspect was an orange haired Yamanaka, told us to leave, saying he will implant a suggestion in the bomber's mind to blow himself up."

Before Kakashi could ask what he meant by that, the sky darkened considerably. All throughout the village, storm clouds loomed over them, but it was more concentrated where Sasuke was fighting off Itachi. "Sasuke must be using the next level of the Lightning Blade he created." He muttered aloud.

Guy caught that statement and shouted. "How unyouthful of you, you left young Sasuke with his brother!"

"Are you nuts!?" Yugao shouted.

"This is their battle." Kakashi shouted back, shocking the others. "Listen, Itachi is our side still. I don't have time to explain right now, but it seems Itachi, in order to get into the Akatsuki as out spy, went to kill his family under order from our elders because of a possible coup da tat."

"Well….fuck." Izumo muttered while others had trouble processing this new information.  
"Hey, could the Hokage have known about this attack then?" Anko asked.  
"I say anything is possible." Yugao stated with a frown.

"Yeah." Kakashi replied. "My reaction too. However, he did tell me that the Akatsuki's leader has the power to destroy this village with ease and that we need to get as many as we can out of here. I don't like it, but he also said that he is taking himself and Sasuke out of the picture to end their curse...and to give Sakura what is in the box next to her."

"I don't like it either." Guy scowled. "Kakashi, in order to stop this, we need to kill this leader of theirs."

"Agreed." Kakashi replied. "The rest of you get out of here and get as many out as you can, just in case we fail."

"Are you sure you are going to be ok?" Anko asked, a bit nervous.

Kakashi didn't get to answer because the building that Kisame was in exploded. "You know, I won't let you get that far. Especially with the kick to the face. I maybe outnumbered, but that makes it fun!"

**KABOOM!**

A loud explosion rang out, the resulting shockwave knocking everyone down for a moment. The explosion had originated where the two Artists had been. Kisame groaned. "Well fuck, he went and blew himself and maybe Sasori as well up. Leader-sama will be pissed!" He then paused as he knew the end for this village was coming soon and he need to be smart and get out as soon as he could. "Well, it has been fun kiddies, but that explosion masks my need to leave. HA!" With that, Kisame disappeared in a swirl of water.

XXXX

**And I am done with this chapter. So the end of Konoha will come next chapter along with a few more battles….like the end of Sasuke and Itachi's battle and Guy/Kakashi vs Pain. Also, I will add in a few more escapes since I know I will get flamed if I kill off Hinata and her team. Now, I was planning on killing off Guy and Kakashi in their battle with Pain, who do you guy think?**

**There might be two uploads of this because I am uploading it before I send it to my beta because you guys have waited long enough. Hopefully I will have the next chapter out soon.**

**I will also explain more of what Naruto is doing next chapter.**

**REVIEW!**


	22. Downfall

**Grim Reaper of Iwa**

**Chapter 22**

**Sorry for the last update, but shit happens. **

Naruto and his group where met with an explosion of their own. It was loud and annoying too. This explosion was not one of Kurotsuchi's, it was all just noise from the room they entered and boy was it large.

It seemed that in the time of Orochimaru's death, the majority of the base they were in a hollowed out some more and turned into one giant arena. The crowd of oto ninja was everywhere and they cheering like one would at a wrestling tournament. Loud, drunk, and completely out of their mind with bloodlust.

In the arena itself, there stood a giant of a man. His hulking form took up most of the area is stood in. He was bald with only a pair of boots and some ripped up shorts. The rest of him was marred by scars. Be they from battle or experiments, who knows, but probably both.

Next to him stood two people. The first was a man he had heard about in passing. A man adopted by Konoha, only to leave them after he had gained all that he needed. This man was a dangerous medic that even Tsunade would be wary of considering he had the potential to be just as powerful as she. His name was Kabuto.

The other person was a woman with insanity laced across her features. Her lopsided smile sent shivers down the blond's spine. She was a green haired woman who didn't seem to care that hair looked to be damaged or just plain out there….something most would connect to her personality. She had on a pair of black biker shorts, knee high boots, a thin t shit that did little to hide her developed figure from the world.

And the scary part about them? That would be the piles of mutilated bodies all around them.

"I am the Strongest man a live!" The bald giant shouted to the arena of bloodthirsty spectators. "You have sent your strongest at me and my team. None are alive. If no one can beat up, we will be your leaders! With us at the reigns of Oto, who will destroy the other villages!"

"YEAH!" the crowds roared, thinking that had what it took.

"Now, I ask once more, do any of you wish to challenge me for the right to lead the Damned? Do any of you have what it takes to take on one that has the Herculean Release alongside the Regenerator Medic and the Insane Poison Bitch!?"

"I have a few." Kimimaru's voice rang out. Despite his injuries and his weakness at the moment, his voice still rang loud in the room.

"So you dare to return after I had Kairi poison your ass?" The bald giant roared in anger.

Kimimaru chuckled. "It seems that I have, but there is something that you should know, Knarl."

"And what is that?"

"Her poison had a different effect on me. It cured my illness."

"You must be joking? We tried a lot of things and that is what cured you!?" Kabuto roared in anger and for good reason too. He had spent a vast majority of his valuable time on that man's illness and a freaking poison cures it?! Just another reason to hate Orochimaru.

"If you're here to gloat, I will turn you into a fine blood paste myself so you may join your family." Knarl suggested.

"No, I would rather not. I was not ready then and I am not ready now." Kimimaru replied dryly. "I am here because of the people I brought with me. They have offered us a place in Iwa."

"HA! We don't need Iwa or the main villages! We will destroy them." Knarl shouted.

"I am sure some of you wish to join and be a part of society once more." Naruto said with his hood up.

"Oh?" Knarl said as he looked at the cloaked blond. "Well, The Grim Reaper of Iwa? What? You offer and if we refuse, we all die?"

"Nope, just offering." Naruto replied simply.

"Hmph, if that is the case, beat this team and lead us to Iwa then?"

"If that is what we must do then fine." Naruto replied as he walked down to the arena, the crowds roaring once more for blood to be spilled.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Naruto knew that this had been a bad idea. These people were too far gone, but if that was the case, why wasn't Kimimaru like that. Where there others like him still in this base?

Oh well. One problem at a time.

XXX

Hinata Hyuuga was having a good day until all hell broke loose. Her family was starting to warm up to her and her father didn't even scowl her way. Plus, she was finally a chunin, so that had to account for something.

But then she left the Hokage tower with Sasuke and things changed. They both saw how the Hokage was literally kicked out of his own office by a man that her father often warned her of and she could see why. Apparently, this Danzo only saw everyone else as tools to be used for his gain and that included Naruto. It made her blood boil, but she also knew that she couldn't and shouldn't stay there. Sasuke had already left her side when the Root Ninja came out of the wood work and started attacking everyone. Now she was running back home to warn them all of what was happening.

That's when things of her went even more south. Apparently, not only Root was attacking, but they had brought allies in the form of the dead. They were very few and brought in to play on one's emotion, but still it was horrible.

That was because when she got home, she found that her father was locked in combat with a man that looked just like him, but the eyes were a dead giveaway. The Byukugan on a black background.

"Father!" Hinata screamed for his safety, knowing who he was fighting. It was Hizashi, Hiashi's brother and far more skilled than the man.

"Hinata! Go! Get your sister and flee!" Hiashi roared as he dodged and weaved away from his brother's precise strikes that if landed would be lethal.

Hinata didn't want to leave her father like this. She knew and he knew that he would not win. He did not have what it take to do the deed. The part of him that resided in her.

"Hinata." The man said more softly this time despite his fierce battle. "Please go, I can handle this. Please go, I love you…you and Hanabi."

That statement brought tears to her eyes. Her father did love her. That was good.

Trying to ignore the pain this was causing her, she ripped her head away from the sight of her father fighting Neji's and ran to find her sister.

As she ran, she saw other battles, the battles of her family fighting off the root agents. She didn't see any other reanimated dead until she came upon where her sister was. That was the elder council chambers.

The floor was littered with the bodies of her elders and standing in the middle of the room was a woman with Hanabi held up by her neck in the air. Seeing this sight brought rage to Hinata's eyes. No more. No more of her family would die! With red in vision, Hinata screamed as she attacked the woman head on.

With a fierce kick to the woman's head, she heard a crack and the woman let go of Hanabi. Of course Hinata was able to catch her in time. Hanabi looked ashamed of herself for some reason, but when she looked at her sister, she hugged the girl, who hugged back.

"Hinata, we need to leave before she regains herself!" Hanabi said in a panic. She had fought this woman and lost. So there was fear in the girl's eyes but not the normal fear of death. This was the fear of dying by the hands of someone you know.

"Who is she anyway?" Hinata asked as she turned around to get a look at the woman, who by this point was already on her feet. One look was all she needed before he breath stopped and shook her head. "No…."

"I am sorry, but I am not in control of my own actions." The woman replied tearfully.

"Mother…" Hinata replied in fear, the same fear that Hanabi had.

Their own mother had come back to kill them.

XXX

"Argh, this sucks." Kiba growled as he and his sister, along with their ninja dogs, fought a person that was their better in everything…and he wasn't even human! Ok well, he was but the man looked like he was part plant!

They were fighting this plant man to protect their family and Kiba's teammate, Shino, who was knocked out at the moment. Apparently, Shino had fought the man and had actually injured the plant man with his father before a bald man came and killed Shibi with ease with some sort of rockets. Rockets of all the damnable things!

Plus, there had been word that Danzo, The Hokage, and the Elder Ino-Shika-Cho team were killed by this bald man and various other orange haired men. To Kiba, this was situation out of a horror book!

Plus, he didn't even know if his other teammate, Hinata, was alright or not.

"Get over it pup, we need to kill this bastard." Hana stated.

"It is futile." The white half of the man shouted with glee before the dark half spoke in a deadly tone. "**Give up and die!"**

"Not going to happen." Two voice rang out and they were both female. The two women jumped in front of Kiba and Hana.

"Mom?" Hana asked.

"Sensei?" Kiba asked.

"Hana, take your brother and his teammate and get the hell out here. Kurenai, I assume you can protect my children?" Tsume stated.

"Huh, I thought I was fighting alongside you." Kurenai said, looking at her old friend in shock.

Tsume smiled sadly. "No. I need you to continue your job as a sensei. Me and ugly here have a history and I plan to repay old debts, whether I die or we both go out."

"MOM!" Hana and Kiba shouted.

"NO! GO!" Tsume roared with tears. "You are now the leaders of the Clan, so get your asses out here before worse things happen! That means you too Kurenai."

Kurenai cursed at the situation that befell them all and nodded before taking hold of Shino's body and telling the others to follow her to find Hinata.

Tsume looked back at the plant man, who seemed to be regarding her. "Time to pay."

"Ah, I see. **So you're **_**his**_** wife**." The multi-colored plant man stated as he readied himself.

"Yes…I am." Tsume replied with fire in her eyes.

XXX

"Dynamic ENTRY!" Lee shouted as he and his team, excluding his sensei, entered the elder's hall in order to save Hinata from her mother, who was blown through the wall.

Neji leaned down on his knees to bow to Hinata and Hanabi, who he was on better terms with but still his misgivings. After the Chunin Exams, Hiashi came to him and told him what really happened, but still, the wounds were deep. "Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama, we need to leave."

"Agreed." The two girls said as they got up. Retracing their steps, Hinata decided to tell Neji who that woman was and who her father was fighting. To say that Neji was shocked would be an understatement, but he knew that in the current situation, the only thing he would get from his father would be death.

"I see. Should we help Hiashi-sama?" Neji asked, unsure since he knew he would be no match.

"I don't think that is a good idea." Tenten stated. "Things are bad enough as it is and I would rather not any of you die."

Hanabi, who had been listen to all that was being said, heard something else. "Anyone else hear that?"

"Hmm?" Asked Lee before he noticed something white and swirling. " Hey, what is that."

Neji widened his eyes in fear. "The rotation…..two of them." He paused and then said, "I have heard stories that they tried to combine their rotations once and it ended with both of them in the hospital."

"That's bad then since it would seem they are using that technique at full power." Tenten said.

"We need to leave, now!" Neji shouted as he saw the two domes of swirling chakra grow larger and combine. "MOVE!"

The small group ran at top speed to get out of the Hyuuga Compound and then some. Thankfully, they got out the blast zone, but when they looked back, there was nothing left. The Hyuuga Estate was gone!

Hinata and Neji briefly activated their bloodline but shut it off after a few moments. The site was horrible, the only good thing about the whole thing was that they saw Hiashi, Hizashi, and Hiashi's wife next to each other…all with a sad smile on their faces as the undead faded away to ash.

"Come on, Kurenai-sensei is here, we need to go." Hinata said with a sad tone.

No, today wasn't just bad, it was hell.

XXX

Sasuke roared in annoyance. Everything! He had tried everything he knew to try and kill his brother, but the elder Uchiha was just too powerful. All with illusions no less! It was infuriating!

Finally, he had enough and released a lightning bolt full of his chakra into the sky and now he was waiting.

"Are you done, little brother?" Itachi asked, his hair covering one of his eyes.

"Hell no!" Sasuke roared before smiling as the clouds above them parted. A giant creature made out of lightning roared at them before Sasuke held up a hand and said, "Come!" The beast roared again before doing just so. It crashed down on his hand, engulfing his whole arm in what looked to be a mini Kirin. The beast followed naturally, but one look from Sasuke's face showed that this attack had some adverse effects.

Itachi looked on sadly at what his brother was forced to do to kill him. So he merely took out a katana and held it at the ready. He knew that this battle would end them both, but he didn't have to enjoy it.

"So this is the end then." Itachi calmly stated.

"It is, now die for your crimes!" Sasuke roared.

"I plan to…" Itachi whispered as he rushed forward with his blade.

"DIE! **Kirin's Final Blade**!" Sasuke roared as he too rushed the elder Uchiha.

After a small flash of light, Itachi and Sasuke stood there, Sasuke with his arm in his brother's chest and Itachi's Katana in Sasuke's. Itachi coughed up blood with a sad smile. "So this is the end…fitting, but you knew that you wouldn't survive this battle."

"Of course not…this is why this was a suicide jutsu." Sasuke coughed out as he release the last of his chakra into the air.

Itachi weakly looked up to see a multitude of lightning bolt raining down on this. As quickly as he could, he place his hand on Sasuke's face, a seal lit up and the boy screamed about not being able to see. Not that it mattered because they were struck with Sasuke's Lightning Rain, but Itachi still spoke, "With this, The Uchiha's Curse shall never plague this world again…"

In the aftermath, Sasuke was dead, and Itachi was barely clinging to life. Itachi weaklu looked up at the sky as the cloud part to reveal something far worse than he imagined, but he wouldn't have to worry about it.

"So...you...resorted to….that." Itachi said before his the last of his life left him, leaving the Uchiha brothers on the ground.

XXX

Kakashi and Guy were not having a good time. This Pein guy was a real pain in the ass and he was nearly untouchable with his other orange haired, and in one case bald, companions. Plus with that Blue Haired Paper User, it was pretty difficult.

"I gotta ask, why bother destroy Konoha?" Kakashi asked as he dodged a strange rod that the main leader of the Orange Haired men used to try and kill him.

The short orange haired man known as Pein rose an eyebrow at that. "You obviously don't know much of your own village's crimes or do not care. I will say this. War may never change, but it is those who cause it that bring pain upon themselves. Danzo was a fool to team up with Hanzo. Your village has caused great pain to ours. I am simply getting rid of a blight on this world. Something your fellow villagers were attempting to do anyway, I am quickening this process."

"Not everyone in Konoha is bad!" Kakashi roared.

"Indeed and those who survive will be to live, but Konoha itself must be destroyed." Pein replied, knowing that not all of Konoha's people were bad, namely the children.

"I won't let you destroy my home!" Kakashi roared as he stabbed at kunai at the man's face.

"I am with you!" Guy shouted as he prepare his foot to the back of Pein's head.

Pein himself resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He merely pointed the palm of his hands at the two men and said, "**Shinra Tensei**!" With that, the two men rocketed away from him. "Don't resist, you are only delaying the inevitable retribution from God."

"The hell was that? I have never seen a jutsu like that." Kakashi stated with a groan as he got back up. Taking out a kunai, he felt that he should keep his distance from this man. Throwing the kunai with his lightning chakra mixed in, he shouted, "**Lightning Style: Lightning Shadow Kunai Jutsu**!"

"Hmph." Pein grunted as he saw the multitude of electrified point objects coming towards him. "**Shinra Tensei**." The kunai then were repelled and dropped all around him, but they did not stop sparking with electricity, which confused the man.

"**Lightning Style: Rajin's Strike!"** Kakashi called out as the electricity jumped from the small blades into the still cloudy sky, lighting it up like a pair of eyes were looking down on them. When Pein looked up, he saw a fairly large bolt of lightning coming straight for him.

Pein knew he had no chance of moving himself with the speed of that bolt, but he had another plan as the bolt struck him, giving Kakashi a breather.

Kakashi chuckled a bit, but he also felt this victory was hollow, like the man let him….hit him. Wiping his head back to the place where Pein was, was now two people. The original Pein, unscathed, and a younger man with short shoulder length hair. _What just happened? I swear I hit Pein with that attack!_

While Kakashi thought about what happened, Guy decided to intervene. With Seven of the Eight Gates opened, the Greet Beast rushed his opponent….turned into two and then three with the appearance of a bald man that shot rockets from his skin!

Guy kicked off into the air and panicked just a bit as the rockets followed him. Quickly, he thought up a way to get rid of them. Just as the first rocket reached him, he kicked it into the others, causing an explosion in midair that drove him higher.

However, the rockets were not done with him yet as this time they came from all directions to trap him in an explosion of fiery death. Guy was not pushover and jonin for no reason. Using the energy from the gates, he pushed his body to rocket itself at the rockets. With the use of his Goken Style of fighting, he managed to kick them all into each other and as he landed on the ground, the air behind him exploded like fireworks.

Looking up, he looked back at Pein and his two bodies, who looked a little annoyed at him. However, the thing that confused him was that there were three people there before. Where was the third?

He got his answer with a hand on his neck that then threw him into the wall of a building. He trained to get off, but the new man just pinned him to the wall with black rods on his arms and legs. "You shall know pain." The man said as he took hold of Guy's neck. The next thing Guy felt was all his Gate chakra being drained from his body. Guy, in an attempt to stay alive, quickly shut off the gates, but the damage had already been done and Guy hung there, defeated.

_No!_ Kakashi shouted in his mind as he power up a Raikari and charged at the main Pein, tired of this game. Pein reacted by thrusting a black rod into Kakashi's shoulder and Kakashi felt himself unconsciously redirecting the attack away from Pein's body. _What the?_

He didn't have time to think about it because two more rods were plunged into his body, one in his other shoulder and the other in his chest. "I can't let you live Kakashi of the Sharingan. You may pose a threat later on." With that, Pein used his Shinra Tensei to project him into the air while the bald man shot off larger rockets at him.

To others, it may have seemed like Kakashi was indeed struck hard and died in that explosion in the air, but Pein did notice that someone saved the silver haired man at the last second. Turning to said person behind him now, Pein saw someone he should have expected.

Jiriaya of the Sannin stood there in all his glory as he held a weak Kakashi in his arms. On the man's shoulders were Ma and Pa toad, the eldest toads. Along with them, his features where toad like right off the bat, signifying that in this battle, he was using his Sage Powers at the beginning of the battle. Jiriaya's home was burning and he would take this battle serious from the get go.

Taking the rods out of Kakashi's body, Jiriaya spoke, "Kakashi, get guy and leave. Get the others to safety. Now."

Kakashi nodded as he went to help Guy and get the hell out of dodge. Itachi said that Pein still had a jutsu that could take out the village and he didn't think he wanted to be in that. "Right, good luck."

"Yeah." Jiriaya said as he stared at the main body of Pein. "Yahiko…"

"Sorry Sensei, but no." the man said.

Jiriaya looked at the man's eyes along with the others and saw the same thing. The Rinnegan. "Nagato….so unlocked more powers from the Rinnegan then. What do hope to accomplish here?"

"To be rid of a blight on the world." Pein stated. "You being here will not change that…sensei."

"I guess not." Jiriaya growled. He then rushed the Paths of Pein, hoping to end this soon. However, from what had seen earlier, he was not sure he could win.

Before Jiriaya could get to the three men, three more men appeared on the scene, with the long haired man calling forth a summoning jutsu to bring about a three headed dog. A Cerberus. "Ah crap." He said as he himself summoned Gamaken. "Gamaken, will you help me?"

"Very well, but I am very ungraceful." The battle toad stated as he rushed the dog creature.

While that was going on, Jiriaya was doing his best fighting off all six of Pein Paths. But it was becoming increasingly difficult due to the summoner summoning a multitude of animals of many different types and to compensate, Jiriaya could only do so much as he summoned the other battle toads to help out. Still, it was very tiring.

He knew they were connected somehow through the eyes and that was why none of his attacks where coming through. They all saw for each other and with a mental link from Nagato they were able to dodge his attacks. But where was Nagato anyway?

He didn't get a chance to think much on that because one of the paths made a successful strike on him. The one that looked like an old man had sliced his arm off. Shima, also known as Ma Toad, left him to quickly retrieve it….like it mattered at this point.

"Jiriaya sensei…I wish we could have been on the same team." Yahiko's body stated and he really meant it.

"Circumstances…huh?" Jiriaya said as he winced at the pain of his missing arm.

"Jiriaya-boy, can you still fight?" Pa Toad asked in concern.

"Of course." Jiriaya stated.

"No you can't." Pein said from behind the Toad Sage, shocking him before a rod found its way in his back. "I am sorry, but I will have to kill you sensei…I shall sent Konan your regards."

"She is alive too?" Jiriaya weakly said. Inside he cursed his weakness, but he was just so tired.

"Yes." Pein said as two of his body impaled Jiriaya from the front. The Yahiko body merely shook his head and walked away. "I am ending this. You will see die from that instead of the rods."

"If I am to die…" Jiriaya stated tiredly, but something in his voice caught Pein attention. Jiriaya formed a rasengan in his hand. He stared at it for a second, wondering if he could add a lot more to it. He decided it would hurt. "I am taking one of you with me!" With that, he thrust the ball of swirling chakra into the nearest body of Pein, which happened to the be the summoner. When the ball struck, he add a massive amount of chakra to do the deed.

Yahiko's body widened his eyes in shock and bit of pain as he felt the Pein that Jiriaya struck was obliterated by the swirl sphere that continued to grow and grow, even catching his other bodies and sending them flying. Yes, he had enough.

Pein levitated high into the air, past the clouds and stood there in the air. "This world shall know pain! **Chibaku Tensei**!" He said as a small singularity form in his hands before it flew out and pulsed. The earth shook as massive amounts of it was thrown into the sky, including the Hokage Monument. Rock, people, and all. The large land masses clung themselves to the singularity and formed a giant ball of rock.

As it started to descend, the clouds parted to show the remnants of Konoha their death.

XXX

On the outskirts of Konoha, Kakashi looked back with Guy in his arms, the sight of the giant rock sphere in the air was just too much for him. "Damnit…..I can't believe Itachi was right. I have got to find the others!"

XXX

Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Kiba roared from their spot outside the village.

The reason for his outburst was the giant rock in the sky. Hana looked and sighed. "This is not how I wanted the day to end."

XXX

Asuma looked on sadly as he, his team, other ninja, and a still unconscious Sakura watched the destruction of the Leaf.

XXX

"SO UNYOUTHFUL!" Lee cried to the heavens. He looked visibly shaken up and for goo reason too. His companions put a hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him, but it was hard as they felt disbelief as well.

XXX

Jiriaya weakly look up, mindful of the rods in him. He could not believe that Nagato's hatred extended this much. Looking back, he felt that he should have not left the Ame Trio back then. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened.

As he looked up sadly at the sphere of rock, Pa Toad shouted. "This is….impossible….but it is happening. Jiriaya, do you really wish to die today with the village?!"

Jiriaya smiled sadly. "It would be a fitting death, but no, I would rather not."

"Then I'll have Ma reverse summon us."

Jiriaya sighed. "If I am going to survive, then have her summon us to Iwa…I need to prepare Naruto for this…if he needs it."

XXX

Pein saw that the sphere of rock was going too slowly for his tastes and even though the jutsu to create the rock sphere was taxing, something he was unprepared for, he decided to fire off one more jutsu.

"**Shinra Tensei!"** He stated simply as he overpowered the attack and sent the rock sphere rocketing down on the village of Konoha.

XXX

Jiriaya, as he prepared to leave, noticed something horrible. In the sphere, at the bottom, were the faces of the Hokages, ominously looking down at the village they had lead and created. This caused a tear of sadness to form as he and the others accepted the fate of Konoha.

The ball of rock crashed down on the village, Jiriaya was already gone.

And so was Konoha. The place where Konoha was, was not nothing more that the biggest crater on the planet now.

Konoha, was no more.

XXX

Jiriaya appeared in the office of the Tsuchikage, shocking the old man and then making him almost throw up at the state of the Sage.

"What the hell happened!?" Onoki shouted.

"Get…Tsunade." Jiriaya weakly said before he fell on his side and passed out, with Pa Toad looking on sadly.

XXXX

**Ok, I could not think of a battle to surpass the one in the anime and I could not even do that one justice, so please no flames. I also decided not to kill off Kakashi, Guy, or Jiriaya.**

**Anyway, Konoha is now gone with the remnants of the Leaf heading to Iwa. **

**I also want to point out that not all of Oto will be joining Iwa.  
**

**So REVIEW!**


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